Vandread 00
by ScarofAzazel
Summary: Long after the final battles between Celestial Being and the Federation, two Celestial Warriors enact a plan centuries in the making to unite all humans against the Harvester armies.Gundam 00/Vandread crossover.
1. Prologue

Well, guess I should say this up front. I own both Gundam 00 and Vandread. I am the creator of two amazing giant robot anime. I am a fool who squabbled all my money on sex and drugs and am now a total and utter liar.

To be honest this is my first fanfiction. I have always thought of mixing Gundam 00 with another series and have found that Vandread is the most appropriate option. I do not own either series and if I did I would have fused them years ago. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

After the end of the war between Celestial Being and The Federation, culminating in the destruction of A-Laws and the Innovators, the world truly became one. Under the leadership of Marina Ismail, the remaining independent nations joined together with the Federation, disbanded all armies, and focused the resources of the entire world on creating a lasting peace. All mobile units with the exception of the four Gundams and the supercomputer Veda were annihilated, along with the information related to designing them as well as all data pertaining to GN drives or Innovators. What remained of Celestial Being's members continued to aid the world from the shadows, as Aeolia Schenberg planned. Their various talents were necessary for replacing the Innovators in preparing mankind for space expansion. As for the Gundam Meisters, well, their fates were already decided.

Allelujah, Lockon, and Marie chose to continue military interventions with Sumeragi. Feldt and the Vashti family helped design ships that would later be used to escape our solar system. Lasse succumbed to his disease, content with the new world. Saji, overjoyed to finally have Louise back in his life, restored the plan to build a solar elevator in the Middle East, with Louise at his side.

Setsuna and Tieria were never found after that final battle. With Ribbons Almark, the leader of the fake-innovators, dead, all obstacles hindering Celestial Being's creator Aeolia Shenberg' final plan were eliminated, and the two Meisters aimed to complete it. Through the use of Gundam 00's Twin Drive system and Seraphim's Trial System, they simply made the entire Innovator mothership "disappear," without rhyme or reason as to why they did so.

Centuries later, even with the sacrifices of Celestial Being and Katharon, humanity nearly wiped itself out. Earth began to die, the atmosphere consisting of the most potent poison; the Solar Elevators acting as both homes for what little remained of humanity and engines to try and repair the planet. Colony ships were nearly complete, however they lacked the power source required to sustain a large enough population to colonize planets and escape the planet's decaying atmosphere.

When all hope was lost, a massive crystal was spotted leaving Jupiter on a course towards Earth. It stopped above the colony ships, pulsing a calming sapphire aura. It split in two, one entering the largest colony ship, the Ikazuchi, and the other fusing with the Orbital Elevators, powering the remaining colony ships. This crystal would be referred as the Paeksis, an entity of pure energy.

Mankind, on the brink of death, immediately launched the colony ships in multiple directions, branching out far and wide into the galaxy. Anno Domini had ended. Colonization Era had begun.

It is unknown when the schism occurred, but at some point the crew of the Ikazuchi split into two age old factions: men and women. The ship was literally divided in two, the women choosing to colonize the green world of Mejare and the men the desert world of Tarak. Their leaders, long-lived, became known as Grandma and Grandpa, the first generation, and chose to continue their conflict for a century via propaganda, hiding the truths about their sexes.

Men, typical of their warlike nature, illustrated women as man-eating harpies, representing chaos and death, the only hope being the militaristic Taraak Empire. A three level hierarchy was designed, descending from the elite to workers. Each class was required to devote their lives to combating women.

Women, typical of their improvident nature, lived lavish and frivolous lifestyles. They challenged each other in everything from technology to beauty to gardening. Resources are wasted away for such games, leading to all from massive blackouts to life support systems failing across colonies.

In between either force, stands Magno's Pirates, an organization of female space pirates who, though generally racist towards males, plague both sexes.

As the ever-beating drums of war sound cross planets, a deformed and hungry beast edges its way through the darkness of space. Red eyed and steel fanged, this beast sifts its away from planet to planet, devouring everything in its path. A pestilence, it leaves nothing behind, not even the ground it's prey walked on. Mankind, distracted by the drums, rekindles a practice that for centuries no word was known for. But, on the horizon, three familiar emerald lights fall through the void, and, with them, a Celestial King's weapon against war. Gundams.

* * *

Those words stung in "Grandpa's" mouth. A chilling breeze shook his old bones as he watched his nephew disappear over the horizon. He feared for Hibiki, feared to send the young man into a strange world all alone. He'd experienced the treatment third class citizens suffer in the capital first hand.

Shrugging, the old man returned to his garden. Hibiki was foolhardy and unpredictable; he'd be just fine. His big mouth would get him beaten, but at least they'll respect him for fighting back.

The old man strode through his garden, occasionally shifting a shrub's leaves or stopping to feel the dirt. Terraforming this planet had been inconceivable when they'd first arrived, but steadily by steadily he'd brought life to these barrens. As he gazed around his garden he found a golden blossom poking its way up between two shrubs.

He also found a very human shadow cast upon it.

Turning around, he was not surprised to find a young man standing behind him. He took a deep breath at his visitor's appearance, never completely comfortable around him.

Wavy violet hair hung just above his shoulders, on which he wore a matching jacket. The upper-thirds of his shirt was the same; the lower, white, with an emerald diamond in the center. Below, he wore a pair of white and light blue pants. His crimson eyes stared through large glasses past the old man.

"Was that him?" Questioned the stranger."Yes." The old man looked back over his shoulder at the Capital. "Hibiki Tokai. Child of Lord Grandpa and Lady Grandma, and my nephew."

The stranger nodded, "He looks like a fool."

Laughing, the old man replied, "Well, I guess you can blame me for that."

Turning back to the stranger, "It has been a long time, Tieria. You haven't changed a single bit."

"And you look just as old as the day I left the colony," Tierra said. Nodding to the garden he questioned, "Any luck?"

The old man smiled, "Oh, well, it'll be some time till this ground produces plants on it's own, but we're getting there." His face turned more a serious color, "So, why have you come down here, Tieria?"

"I've come for him."

"Wait wait wait wait wait! You told me he'd remain asleep for another decade! You told me we still had time before the war! You told me it was all apart of the plan!" The old man waved his fist pointlessly.

"The plan has changed." Tieria stated bluntly, his face as cold as stone. "Certain…irregularities have occurred and we must move the plan forward."

"Irregularities? What kinds of irregularities shift a plan ten decades back?"

Tieria looked at the ground, his eyes far away. Taking a deep breath, he said, "We lost Tartarus two days ago."

"What?!" the old man coughed.

"Yesterday they reached the Atlas colony and by tomorrow they'll have entered the Shoshone system. The majority of their main fleet has been redirected to Taraak and Mejare."

The old man gasped with a wheezing voice, "My god! Any—"

"Not one left."

"How…what can we do?"

Tieria looked him dead in the eye. "We move forward." he declared, "Once we stabilize the Paeksis we'll move forward with rallying the colonies."

"And you think you can do that by rebuilding the Ikazuchi?"

"That's what Aeolia Schenberg said. If the Paeksis and GN Drives stabilize we'll have the necessary power to begin interventions again."

"Hmm…" The old man rolled this over with his tongue, a bitter taste returning to his throat. Finally, he said, "You do know that waking him up early can have serious repercussions?"

"I've taken that into account, and I've come to the conclusion that he's ready to return to this world," Tierra answered with a smile.

"Alright, I don't like it, but I'll wake him up," The old man turned back to his garden, "Follow me."

At the end of the garden was a dome shaped building with a single door and no visible way to open it. The old man placed his hand on it and with a hum it slid open. They stepped inside, the door closed, and the walls rose at fifty miles an hour.

Neither talked on the trip down, for any words would've disappeared above them. They dropped to about 7,000 feet below ground level, stopping in what only can be described as a massive mausoleum, only lit by small floor lights.

As far as Tieria could see were thousands upon thousands of bumps in the floor. They were all about five feet in diameter and rose only a foot off the ground. He ran his hand over one, noticing there were grooves along the base of the bumps and, most notably, names imprinted in them. Before he could read one, the old man tapped him on the shoulder.

"He's this way," the old man nodded, turning to the west. The moved deeper nearly half a mile, stopping at another "knob-less" door. "Its your turn. Only you're authorized in there."

Tieria said nothing as he opened the door, slipping into the hallway beyond. No longer were there any bumps in the floor but life tanks that lined the walls. He paid no mind to the humans within them, focusing just on the path before him.

The hall opened into a large (tiny compared to the mausoleum) room, housing only duel coffins in the center with more life tanks along the walls.

The coffins were made of an ebon metal and while one shone with a crimson imprint on its base, the other shone sapphire. Stepping towards the crimson one, reading, "Hibiki Tokei."

The coffin remained silent and unmoving in response to its pass code, contents long since removed.

To the other the Gundam Meister read, "Gundam."

Immediately, a hum filled the tomb, emanating from the coffin. The lid split into two halves as invisible gears churned to life. A grunt chirped up from within as an icy mist spilled out.

And then, out stepped a boy. Well, not a boy any longer. At roughly twenty-one years of age and five foot eleven, a raven-haired Arabian man stepped into the land of the living. Naked.

"Setsuna F. Seiei." Tieria welcomed his old comrade and friend with a smile. "You look tired."

"Tieria Erde." The youth responded in his monotone voice, smiling in return. "You look the same."

"I get that a lot."

Goosebumps popped up across Setsuna's skin, and though he was physically unmoved, he asked, "Where are my clothes?"

"We'll pick you something on the way out," Tieria smiled once more before dawning a far more serious expression. "They're on the move."

"How early is it?" the Krugis boy asked, rubbing his eyes and walking past Tieria.

"A decade," he replied as they walked back into the main room, "You sure you don't want pants?"

* * *

And we may never know if the raven-haired young man ever put on any pants.

Hope you've enjoyed this as much as I've enjoyed stealing it... I mean writing it.

Please review and comment. I'd love to hear input and suggestions for future chapters. I've already plotted out the initial chapters, and yes, they will be about this length or longer. Maybe I'll fuse certain ones if they don't seem long enough to me. However, I just don't see a point in writing until I had gone through an entire episode. I'd rather write actual "chapters." It may take 2-3 chapters to complete an episode, as I said before I may fuse some chapters to add length.

Anyways, onto the next part. I should have it tomorrow once I've revised it.


	2. Phase One

*Updated version*

I do not own Gundam 00 or Vandread.

Enjoy.

* * *

* * *

The sun dipped low on the horizon as black clouds loomed above the barrens of a desolate planet. Corpses littered the landscape, all of which were rent open and sucked dry of their organs. All but one. One straggling survivor crawled through the bloodbath, out of breath and out of hope. Rising above him and casting a massive shadow, a crimson scaled beast slashed forwards with its talons, cleaving into the man's stomach as he let loose one final scream.

"AGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Ancient black and white paintings flashed onto the viewing screen, illustrating the decimation of a battalion of male astronauts by white haired devils.

"Women are monsters. And men were once their playthings. Eating our forefather's innards, sucking them dry."

The image changed to that very description.

"DESTRUCTION!"

Flash! Women raiders dragged numerous sacks of pillaged goods from a male outpost.

"OPPRESSION!"

"Over the centuries they have plundered our cities, they have cruelly oppressed our people with forced labor…"

Flash! Two females laughed maniacally as they cracked their whips across over a dozen male thralls.

"…And now that unspeakable horror is about to strike our empire once again!"

A collected gasp filled the dining room as the scene shifted to a field of graves crossing over the horizon, each a new home for a man butchered by women. Every one of the fresh recruits of the Ikazuchi was captivated and disgusted by the footage that accompanying the propaganda, shaking with primal rage. All except one raven haired boy.

Setsuna F. Seiei closed his eyes to the spectacle of lies, shaking with a different kind of rage. He slid within himself and turned the volume of the world to a bare minimum, preferring the emptiness of his mind to the Empire's "Suggestion."

He barely heard the dry robot voice of propaganda switch to the Admiral of the Ikazuchi. Squinting, Setsuna saw a bald man standing before the recruits, his dark blue uniform lined with medals. The Admiral declared the recruits before him will carry on the legacy of Grandpa, strike down their nemesis women, and, through a combination of the strength of the 2nd and 3rd generation and the blood flowing through them, man the battleship Ikazuchi to stamp out all piracy in the Taraak Empire.

"Enough time wasted! Why wait for the designated hour to arrive? Don't you agree with me, men?" Shouted the admiral as he stuck the air with his fist.

A collective cheer rang out; behind it all the order to launch the ship was given.

Setsuna slowly returned to the real world as the men around him roared like thunder, "Ikazuchi! Ikazuchi! Ikazuchi!"

Thunder did roar outside as the Ikazuchi began its launch into space, disengaging from the launch pad situated in the center of the Taraak Capital. Setsuna gave himself a warm smile as gravity slipped away.

"Phase one complete."

* * *

Another raven-haired boy was not so happy at the disappearance of gravity.

"Wait a sec – AHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

Far below, the old man plowed his field, only stopping to watch his nephew disappear into the blackness of space.

* * *

"Cheers!"

With the battleship well on its way into space, the new recruits reveled in their full acceptance into the Taraak military. The elites shared food and drink among themselves, basking in the stupidity and pride that filled the room. Friendly toasts were passed around, to honor, to prestige, to male pride.

And through the midst of these claims, Setsuna stood alone, picking out the rumors slithering behind them.

"Where the hell did he come from?"

"No idea. I don't even remember him from the academy."

"I heard he skipped all the training sessions in the academy and got a perfect score on the final test."

"I heard he fought and killed a group of women single-handily out in the barrens."

Setsuna knew they were talking about him, and still he ignored it all. He was more annoyed with the ridiculous outfit he was wearing. He couldn't help but wonder why men could fear women yet wear uniforms that emphasized big hips.

"Hey! You look like a gentleman of distinction! How bout trying our companies new product?"

Setsuna suddenly noticed a blood recruit leaning a little to close towards him, brandishing a box of white and pink pills.

"Bart Garsus."

"Wow! You actually know me! I'm flattered!" Bart exclaimed delightfully, batting his big eyelashes, "How bout try some free food on me?"

Setsuna popped one of the pills into his mouth. Dry, chewy, but filling. Far better than anything he'd eaten in Krugis.

"Thank you."

"Well? Well? What do you think?" Bart pleaded like a puppy dog.

Setsuna apathetically fed him, "It's filling. Needs more flavor."

"Oh really? I'll have to make note of that," His face shined with pride as he took Setsuna's hand and squeezed it tightly, "Thank you so much! I don't care what anyone says about you, I'm glad to have you around."

Setsuna stared at his hand as the recruit danced off to his next customer. Before he could decide whether or not to slip out of the reception party, the lights dimmed.

"Gentlemen! Please direct your attention to the large screen!"

He did nothing of the sorts, preferring to lean against the wall and close his eyes.

Across the screen paraded an assortment of giant man shaped machines wielding some rather odd weapons. Scythes, spears, broadswords, axes, elbow knives, elbow chainsaws, just to name a few. Cloudy white, the "Tsukumo Version Van-type Fighter" lethargically trudged across battlefields, shrugging off artillery fire as they "slammed the fist of justice down upon Taraak's enemies."

Setsuna grunted silently to himself. He'd read all the data pertaining to Taraak's weaponry the previous night. Bulky and sluggish, the vanguards were no larger than a typical mobile suit. Layered with thick armor, they could take a beating but were as agile as a rock. As melee units, they were pretty poor, no better for target practice then space combat.

Setsuna felt an odd sense of joy when he noticed Bart's own distaste for the machines. However, something about the ceremony caused him to move forward through the crowd. Whether it was curiosity or instinct, he did not know as he moved to Bart's side.

"How 'bout a great round of applause for our fleet of Tsukumo version, Van-type Fighters!?"

The sheep followed their shepherd's call, bahhing as the curtain opened to reveal a hangar filled with the vanguards. They fell silent when they notice a black haired third-class citizen hanging from the torso of a vanguard. Garbed in an orange vest and baggy black work pants, the commoner stared dumbly at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" howled the Admiral, a vein erupting from his forehead, "GET THAT BOY!"

One guard raced towards the boy, shouting, but was knocked on his face as the boy used him to soften his fall. Other guards rallied around him, waving batons while he leapt onto the stature sitting before the hangar. The statue of Lord Grandpa.

Cheers and laughter rose up from the recruits as the young man outmaneuvered the guards.

"Go for it, Shorty!" Bart shouted right next to Setsuna's ear. He stepped away from the blond when the intruder lunged over the guards towards him.

He landed with a thud, face red and teeth grinding, "Who the hell was the one who just called me Shorty?"

No one answered when the guards piled atop of him and beat him stupid with their batons. However, the recruits did laugh when he was dragged away, happy that they were provided with dinner and a show.

Setsuna hid his emotions behind a wall of stone, churning with irritation towards Hibiki Tokai. Silently, he wished he was in Tieria's position, however humiliating it may be.

* * *

3 days prior…

"Goddamn it! I hate wearing these things!"

Tieria threw his sports bra down, tired of trying to entrap his breasts in a cage. He glanced down either side of the locker room to make sure no one had heard. All clear.

Sighing, he picked the bra back up and tried again. He pushed out his gut this time but he breasts did not budge.

"Damn it all," he mumbled, "Aeolia Schenberg clearly was a pervert when he uploaded the biological specs for me. Goddamn strap! Goddamn rever—"

"Need help?"

Tieria jumped. Whirling around, he reaching into his locker for his pistol, dropping his bra in the process. His hand stopped on the silver grip.

Before him stood a golden haired vixen garbed in a long black gown, small enough and trimmed enough to unveil a mass of cleavage. For a moment he thought she was wearing nothing but a black towel, least, until he realized she was staring at his breasts.

"Impressive."

"Ahh!" Tieria screamed, his face bright red as he dropped into the fetal position.

"No need to get scared," assured the vixen as she danced behind Tieria, "You should be proud of your body. No reason to hide it. Its not like anyone here's going to hurt you."

Tieria didn't know why he reacted that way. Maybe it was how women would react in his era, insecure about being so exposed, or maybe it was all the goddamn estrogen. He cursed Setsuna for getting the easy assignment.

"Here, let me help you," the blond chided gently as she pulled Tieria back to his feet, "Names Jura. What's yours?"

"Tieria Erde," he responded, comforted by the blond's gentle voice.

"Tieria…how lovely," Jura brushed aside Tieria's long purple locks smoothly, "What does it mean?"

"Earth, like the planet we came from."

"Hmm…" Jura hummed as she snapped the bra in place. "There you go! All done." She danced around to see Tieria's face, flashing a beautiful cherry smile. "Tieria. You're the new recruit, aren't you? The one from the research lab?"

"Yes." Tieria kept himself calm and collected, faking the wounded soldier response.

"That must have been terrible. How did a scientist survive such an ordeal? I heard the men broke through the hull in a matter of minutes."

"Its true." Tieria feigned heartache, his voice full of spite and eyes full of hatred. "Boarding parties poured through the hangar like locust, gunning down each line of defense as if they were paper dolls."

He breathed in slowly, fortifying his mask. "I was in running a system check on the GN-Arms when they began the assault. Like I said, the first place they attacked was the hangar. I had to do something. I had to stop the killings."

"But you are just a scientist. You are not expected to handle such situations."

Tieria's voice was torn with spite, "I may just be a scientist, but I'm also a Women." He breathed in again. I'd like to thank the academy. "I activated the battle system and just kept fire shots from the GN Cannons. I remember my fingers going numb before I realized that there was no one left.

"I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't handle it.

"I launched out of the hangar and bombarded any male ship I could see. They just kept coming and coming. By the time I'd pushed them away from the station, it was already gone."

"And then we showed up," Jura mumbled.

"And then you showed up." Tieria repeated, empty water slipping from his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Shh…" Jura pulled Tieria close to her, resting his head on her shoulder. "It's all right. It's all right. You're with friends now. You're not alone."

"Thank you." Tieria cried. I'd like to thank my family for all their support.

"Now, lets not talk of sad things any longer. It's time you spoil yourself," Jura squeezed his hand and handed him a towel. "Lets head down to the sauna and let the girls smooth all your worries away."

"Thank you." Tieria cried one last time before reassuring Jura with a cheap smile. I'd like to thank God for all the opportunities he's given me.

"Tieria Erde I presume."

Jura nearly jumped out of her skin as the aqua-haired Amazon appeared behind her. Tieria, on the other hand, was as extremely calm.

"Yes, that's me."

"Captain has asked me to escort you to the Briefing Room. She didn't say why."

"Oh, come on Meia! Can't it wait? Our new friend needs time to rest," Jura whined, hands tiny against her jumbo hips.

"Caption's orders," Meia responded, giving no ground.

"I'll be fine Jura," Tieria patted his new friend on the shoulder, their roles reversed.

"You sure?"

"Yah, just wait for me in the sauna."

"Alright, but be careful. The Commander is very cautious around newcomers," Jura chided.

The Amazonian possible transsexual and Innovator definite transsexual marched through the halls silently, neither seeing any reason to talk. Though Meia didn't show it or understand it, she definitely didn't trust the newcomer. The feeling was mutual, Tieria unsure if the Dread leader was stable, his quantum brainwaves picking up a pinch on her heart.

The Briefing Room consisted of an oval shaped table with a 3D projector in the center. Tieria was surprised to find only five members sitting around it. On the right sat a young brunette sporting both huge glasses and pigtails. Next to her was a lean and muscular older woman wearing a metallic headband and large beads to hold her hair in a ponytail. Meia took her place on the left next to a silver-haired vixen dressed in a dark blue dress. In the center of the two groups sat the Captain, a wrinkly old woman hidden with in a large brown cloak. Tieria was almost sure he'd met the old crone at one point; again, another mutual feeling.

"Welcome Tieria Erde." The Captain spoke just as sincerely as Jura had, "Please, have a seat. I hope my crew has made you feel at home."

"They have." Tieria responded, flashing another fake smile. I'd like to thank….

"I was hoping you could tell us what exactly you were researching before you joined our crew, if that isn't to much."

"Not at all. Where would you like me to begin?"

"How about that fighter you were piloting? Or that huge robot inside it?" the brunette chirped up gleefully.

"Parfette! Control yourself!" Shouted the silver-haired one at her subordinate.

"Sorry Commander," Parfet apologized as she hung her head in shame. Turning to Tieria she bowed and said, "Sorry."

"It's alright. It's natural to be curious about those machines of mine." And so he began. He lied about how the GN Drive was a new breakthrough power source he'd discovered while sifting through old research notes on Mejare. Not long later he'd was contacted by a group of scientists who were developing weapons for the Mejare military. It was there he applied his GN Drive to schematics of a new Taraak weapon: Vanguards. From there on he designed the very first Mejare mobile suit, Gundam Seraphim, and the first mobile armor, the GN Arms.

"We were able to develop two more GN Drives, however, compared to the first these two are unique," Tieria declared, finally speaking the truth, "To put it simply, they are like twins. No matter what machine we implemented them into neither would reach even fifty percent production level.

"So, after searching deeper into the records, we discovered the theoretical Twin-Drive system. Based around it, we designed a mobile suit that could only be powered by two drives with compatible GN particle production. The results were unbelievable.

"The project became known as the Double-O Gundam. Rather than 'double' the production of particles, it squared it. As a result, it moved faster than any known cruiser, making it the perfect unit for high speed combat. Also, at full output it could have destroyed the entire station single-handedly."

The Commander stopped him there, asking, "If this machine was so powerful, why did you not use it during the assault?"

The Captain would have chastised her for such an insensitive question, but was also curious.

"There were…irregularities involved with the system. At full output the Gundam ran the risk of causing an emergency shutdown. Suffice to say, it was to unstable for anything but suicide missions."

"Why are you wasting our time telling us about this?" Meia rudely asked.

"It explains why the men attacked us," Tieria answered as he glared back at the Amazon. "The higher ups were unpleased with our results and were ready to scrap the project if we couldn't stabilize Double-O. After experimenting with the GN-Arms, we designed an off shot from it. We named it the O-Raiser. Once docked with Gundam 00 it condenses and stabilizes the Twin Drive system.

"That's when they appeared. Somehow the Taraak military had caught onto are little operation and launched a full-scale assault on the station. You know what happened from there," Tieria finished with a sharp breathe.

The room remained silent for several moments before the Captain sighed slowly.

"So, is it safe to assume that the military has this 00 Gundam?" She asked with a hint of fear.

"Sadly, yes."

The muscular woman threw in her two cents, "And if it is as powerful as you say the Empire will be able to stamp out all opposition. Whether it be it Mejare or us."

Again, another spell of silence was enacted, and, again, the Captain broke it with a sigh.

"BC," She glanced at the Commander, "find out if Taraak has made any plans to start another major war."

"Right away, Captain!" BC replied, quickly getting up and leaving the room.

"Gascogne. I need you and Meia to go over our supplies. I want to know how quickly we can begin raiding deeper into Taraak space."

"Roger." The Amazon and stocky woman responded in unison, leaving for the Registry.

"Tieria, I know this is much to ask, but I need you to explain everything you know about these GN Drives and Gundams to our engineer Parfet her," The Captain asked as she nodded to the young woman. "I believe you above all others understand how dangerous it is to leave that creation of yours in the hands of men."

"I'd be happy to help you Captain in any way I can."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

As Parfet and Tieria left the room, he silently thought to himself, "Phase 1 complete."

* * *

Setsuna stared at his assortment of tools that layered the locker room floor: his combat knife and sharpening stone, his pistol and spare bullets, and dozens of silver cubes. GN mines. Tieria had whipped them up at Setsuna's request and was extremely thorough in his designs.

At the center of each was a miniature, mock GN Drive surrounded by an inch of Gundamium alloy. Upon activation they released a series of pulses in a three foot radius, and, if disturbed, pressurized the particles before cracking its own casing. Such unstable little things could melt a teen foot radius.

Setsuna did not feel comfortable using mock GN Drives, recalling the numerous effects of overexposure on one's DNA. However, he'd made sure to place his first batch as far away from populated sections of the ship as possible. Also, they were all remote activated, so if everything went to plan, no one would be around when he set them off.

The Krugis youth sat silently alone, listening to the sounds of the ship. He could hear the numerous footsteps, numerous soldiers at their workstations. The recruits were still high off their acceptance but had retired to their quarters until orders were relayed.

Beyond, he could hear the echoes of space. So perfect, he thought, so calming.

Too bad it wouldn't last much longer.

Rising from his trance Setsuna dawned his pilot uniform: a tight black and blue flight suit and Gundanium body armor to protect his chest. He wrapped a large belt with small hooks around his waist, holstering his pistol and hooking the mines in place. Reaching into the locker he pulled out a syringe filled with a silver liquid.

Taking a deep breath, he drove the needle directly into a scar on his right shoulder and pushed the plunger in. He dropped to his knees suddenly as the nanites flooded his system, pain wracking his bones as his pulse quickened. It passed after a moment and he rose again.

Flexing his hand, he could feel the change. One of the mines flared to life, flashing a dull red light. He quickly straightened his hand and the light died. Sighing, he recalled Tieria's instructions.

"The nanites react to physical, neurological and emotional responses. If any is stressed they will act according to ensuring your safety, though knowing you that may not be in your best interests. Luckily for you, your overexposure to GN particles will actually come in handy.

"Basically, the nanites in your system cause your thoughts to "echo." If there is a GN Drive in the area they'll respond to your thoughts."

"So I can control a mobile suit without being in the cockpit?" He recalled asking.

"Exactly, but the stress to your mind is deadly. Better to focus just on little things, like system or weapons checks, nothing to straining. But again, knowing you, you'll probably jump at the opportunity to test these things."

Tieria is probably right, Setsuna thought. Again he stretched his mind out into the ship. A jubilee of voices filled his mind and he pushed them away. One however did catch his ears.

"God damn it all! Why'd I have to make that stupid bet? Why do I have to be so god damn impulsive?"

The voice came from a storage room on the east side of the ship. Setsuna made note of it and pushed towards the hangar for the Vanguards. Feeling along the walls he found small notch at the back of the room. The wall was hollow. Figures, he thought. They never thought to inspect the old section of the ship for it. Fools.

He sent an echo beyond the wall, and, in response, a low humming resonated back. It was calming, like a light piano sonnet. Stable, he thought. Good.

Returning to his body Setsuna looked at his data pad. One minute left. He looked around the locker room one last time before heading into the hall.

"Setsuna F. Seiei, beginning armed intervention." He muttered as he dawned his helmet and made way to the storage area. The ship shook violently as a barrage of missiles detonated across the shields, awakening the crew to the reality of war. It was unpredictable.

* * *

Tieria sat silently in the GN Arms, patiently waiting for his time to launch. Magno's pirates were only a matter of minutes away from intercepting the Ikazuchi and he wanted to be the first on to board the vessel.

Jur'a face flickered on to his monitor, pouty and pig-faced.

"Something wrong?"

"You jerk!" She barked, "I waited for two whole hours at the sauna! I blew off getting my nails done! Now they are all scaly and cracked!"

Tieria could only raise an eyebrow. "The Captain had me explain to Parfet _everything_ about GN Drives. I'm sorry I didn't make it, but that girl was very insistent about getting under the hood of Seravee."

"Still! You could have sent someone to tell me you wouldn't show up!" The pig growled.

"Again. I'm sorry," now he really meant it. "Look…if you want…I'll give you a massage after the raid."

"Oh my god! OMG! OMG! That's perfect!" The pig became a kitten." I love you I love you I love you!"

Tieria regretted saying anything at all now.

"All pilots! Prepare for sortie!" The Commander rallied with a shout. "2 minutes until the Ikazuchi is in view."

"We'll make plans for a another trip to the sauna later." Jura joyfully proclaimed.

"Alight. Keep safe." Tieria said before switching on his weapon system and making sure the GN Drive was stable. He felt the calming warmth as the GN particles flowed through the air.

"Tieria, you will be the first to launch," Meia stated over the comm channel.

"Roger."

At his beckoning, the GN Arms slid out of its restraints, hovering in the center of the hangar. Tieria fastened his hands around the joysticks for either wing and maneuvered so the ship so it faced the hangar doors. With the slight pressure of his index finger the GN Arms jettisoned out of the pirate ship and into the blackness of space.

A small image flashed on his monitor, showing a massive, dull grey battleship cruising through space. Unlike the battleships of his era, the Ikazuchi was basically a giant box with slightly smaller wings that were slanted at the ends. He saw hangar doors on either side and cautiously edged towards them.

To his surprise, they were locked shut. Strange, he thought, did they cancel the exhibition match? No matter.

"Tieria Erde, beginning armed intervention!" He shouted before unleashing a barrage of GN missiles from either wing his ship.

* * *

"What did she just say?" Amaone asked the bridge crew.

"I got no idea," Belvedere Coco scoffed. "You know those military scientists. They're all nutty."

"Armed intervention, eh?" The Captain rolled those words on her tongue questionably.

* * *

*Preview*

"Hibiki Tokei?"

"Ye-Yes!" The young man stammered as he stared down the barrel of the gun. 'Oh God not this way. Not this way.'

"Come with me if you wanna live," Blue suit said as he holstered his pistol and held out his hand.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter should be up by Monday.

Happy Suicide Day Number 2 everyone. (Seriously, hope you all have a good Valentine's day.)


	3. Hit or Miss

Sorry if you though this was an new chapter, just revised it after rereading my copy while login was down. Next one will be tomorrow for Friday.

Enjoy!

*Disclaimer*

I do not own Gundam or Vandread.

* * *

**A shockwave rippled through the Ikazuchi as the ship behind it exploded. The entire crew was on their feet in a single collective leapt. Surprisingly, the bridge was rather chaotic.**

**The Prime Minister, still furious over the incident with the third-class brat, roared, "I gave the order to stop the exhibition!"**

**This isn't apart of the exhibition!" Replied a helmsman as he frantically ran his fingers across the controls.**

"**Enemy fighter at three o'clock!"**

"**It's the women! They're mounting a surprise attack!"**

**The ship shook even harder than before as two pink particle beams discharged just meters below the bridge.**

"**Damage report!" Ordered the Captain before mumbling to himself, "What the hell was that?"**

"**Shield's at 95%! Firs in blocks three and five!"**

"**Evacuate and seal those areas off!" The Captain demanded.**

"**What about the weapon systems?" The Prime Minister asked.**

"**All cannons functional!"**

"**All ships! Guard the Ikazuchi!" The Prime Minister ordered over the comm channel. "Return fire!"**

* * *

**Tieria swerved sharply as a volley of cannon fire hailed down upon him and his squadron. A few Dreads were hit, but nothing serious. They returned fire immediately and were rewarded with the death of another ship.**

"**Good job, ladies!" He said, "Now make way to the port side hangar!"**

"**But, mam, our Dread's don't have the fire power to breach those doors!" Responded a red-haired maiden.**

"**Leave that to me," Muttered the former-Innovater as his eyes shined a familiar golden hue. He sifted through the men's communication channels. 'Get those Vanguards prepped and ready!' 'Evacuate and seal off those sections!' 'The women have broken through the line! Reform at their flank.'**

"**Jura, they're reforming behind you!" Tieria cried to his new friend.**

"**What? How—"**

"**Doesn't matter! Just trust me."**

"**R-roger!"**

**Returning to the Ikazuchi and barely maintaining the GN Arms, Tieria deeper into the flagship's system. Eureka. He'd found the catapult mechanism for the Vanguard's hangar, and, with a single thought, he disabled it.**

"**All pilots! Once the Vanguards have launched we'll eliminate them and the ship is ours!"**

* * *

**Within the Ikazuchi….**

**The few recruits that were resting in their rooms quickly adapted to the chaos, already in the locker room when the Prime Minister ordered them to their stations. The rest of the recruits (except Bart) dropped their glasses and bolted out of the room in a matter of seconds.**

**Setsuna stepped out the way of the stampeding bulls, their beady eyes flashing over his calming blue outfit. At the end of the herd, Duelo McFile stopped to stare at the Krugis youth.**

"**Doctor Duelo McFile."**

**The young doctor's eyes widened in shock and his breath grew shallow. Only a few people knew that he planned to serve as a military doctor.**

"**How—"**

"**The women aren't all bad. At least not the pirates," Setsuna declared calmly, "They would welcome a decent doctor when they board."**

**Duelo stood there quietly as the young boy stepped pass him and disappeared around a corner.**

"**Duelo, what the hell are you doing?" A fellow recruit shouted from the other end of the locker room, "We're in the middle of a battle!"**

"**Right," he mumbled to himself, returning to the present.**

* * *

"**Never underestimate a mechanic's knowhow," Hibiki Tokei mumbled to his egg shaped robotic guard as he used it's wiring to disable his cell's plasma bars. For a moment he just sat there, staring at his "brother." Finally, he scooped up the navi robot and entered the hall.**

**And stepped eye to eye with a pistol. Its wielder stood about his height and was dressed in a blue pilots suit. Nothing suggested whether they were man or woman.**

"**Hibiki Tokei?" The blue-suit asked in a monotone voice.**

"**Y-yes!" the raven-haired boy stuttered. 'Oh my God, not this way! Not this way!'**

**Blue suit holstered his pistol and removed his helmet, revealing a black haired Arabian boy. "Come with me if you want to live."**

**And before he knew it, Hibiki Tokei was marathoning the halls of the Ikazuchi with this mysterious young man. He remained silent the entire time and only stopped to flex his hands, which ultimately led to a series of explosions that caved in the walls behind us.**

**Eventually, Hibiki had to know, "Hey, thanks for saving me and all, but who the hell are you? And how did you know my name?"**

**Blue-suit stopped right in front of the Taraak youth, causing him to fall flat on his ass.**

"**Sorry," blue-suit replied as he helped Hibiki up. "My name is Setsuna F. Seiei and I am friend of your Grandfathers"**

"**Grandpa? He never mentioned you!"**

"**I wouldn't come up in average a conservation. Now, if we can continue." Setsuna motioned down the next hall.**

"**Of course," Hibiki said, taking a deep breath before it disappeared behind him.**

* * *

**The Prime Minister sat silently in his command chair as the rest of the crew tried to salvage the operation. He remained like that for a matter of minutes.**

"**Escort ship Majery has been destroyed!" Declared a helmsmen as he frantically manned his station, "The Maberoshi's down too!"**

"**The Ikazuchi's new sections have been breached!" Another shouted.**

"**What deplorable tactics! They are hiding in the background fire!" The Prime Minister muttered sternly.**

"**Keep the Ikazuchi level!" Ordered the Captain.**

"**Send the Vanguards out!" The Prime Minister commanded without hesitation.**

"**What?" The Captain questioned, "But most of them are just trainees, Minister!"**

**The Prime Minister glared at his second in command like the Devil at God. "If we lose this battle because we didn't use our latest weapons we'll forever shame our forefathers!"**

* * *

**The sheep followed the dog of the cliff, and Tieria's little trap sent the wolves down upon them.**

**With the deployment mechanisms disabled, the Vanguards dove out the hangar doors, pilling atop the closest Dread, which just happened to be Jura's.**

"**Hey! What are these things?" She exclaimed as the men tapped their fists against the Dread's window, kind of like a broken ex. "They're getting in my way." Like a broken ex when you back out your car.**

"**Don't worry about the Vanguards," Meia stated, "Just focus on the enemy flagship."**

"**Roger!" Meia said as she accelerated, flinging of the annoying little ex's.**

"**Tieria, is your group ready?" Meia queried as she destroyed two enemy cannons.**

**Tieria awoke from his stupor, having grown tired of picking off ships. "Ladies! The way is clear! Lets claim our Booty!"**

"**Roger!"**

**They skimmed the hull of the Ikazuchi, their noses aimed at the hangar doors, which, sadly, were slowly closing. At the lead of the squadron, the GN Arms accelerated, burrowing through the doors and creating a clear hole for the pirates.**

**They landed in the main hangar, a massive room that once housed the Vanguards, and a soon as the gravity was ready, they'd swarm down upon the men like locust, except that they were locust dressed in female skin dressed in biosuits that made them look like demons. Demon Locusts.**

* * *

"**What the hell is going on in this place?" Hibiki shouted neurotically as he leaned against a wall, least, what was left of it.**

**The past dozen of hallways had steadily become more and more grave and crippled, their current one being the worst. Decaying cords hung from what could only be assumed as wall and ceiling panels.**

"**Women pirates," Setsuna stated as he scanned through his datapad. "They launched a surprise attack just after the fleet left Taraak's atmosphere."**

"**Hell, then we better get out of here!"**

"**They've taken the hangar," Setsuna stared at his datapad for a few seconds before he looked up at Hibiki. "Do you hear that?"**

"**Hear what? With all that shouting from the loudspeaker I'm surprised you can hear anything!"**

"**It sounds like someone's screaming," Setsuna said, rubbing his head, "Never mind. Lets continue."**

**They did just that, climbing up a series of ladders into the engine room. Though spectacular, neither of the boys even glanced at the shiny blue Paeksis, a massive orb at the center of the room. Climbing high above it the two balanced on the catwalks, praying no one hit the ship at just that movement.**

"**Hold it!" Setsuna shouted at Hibiki, who was now ahead of him. Suddenly, as his first act of emotion, his eyes grew wide with fear. "Get down!"**

**Then, the world exploded.**

* * *

**Back at the Bridge, the Prime Minister entered his personal pass code into his control station, opening a small panel. From it rose up a single lever.**

"**You mustn't do this! Minister!" Shouted the Captain nervously.**

**Tears in his eyes, the Minister exclaim, "We can't afford to let the entire ship to be captured by our enemies!"**

**He glanced around the room, gazing into each of his teary-eyed subordinates teary eyes. "I must at least save the new section of the Ikazuchi. Before everything falls into the hands of women," he pushed the lever forward, "I will separatethe old from the new."**

**Explosions three times the size of the ones Setsuna set off rippled across the hull, disconnecting the bindings between the old and new sections. The center part, a broadsword shaped bridged, slipped out of its bindings and drifted away from the old section.**

* * *

**Tieria, armed with an automatic rifle he'd scrounged off a dead corpse, cautiously entered a small control room. While Meia and the others secured the hangar he had slipped away to deactivate the defense grid.**

**With a few taps of his fingers he did just that. Sighing, he scanned the room one more time.**

"**Sorry Jura. Looks like I won't be able to give you that massage I promised," He whispered despondently before enter his pass code into the control system. His Veda eyes sparkled to life as he delved back into the Ikazuchi. With another single thought, he deactivated a small lock in the Vanguards' hangar. Such a small lock for a big door.**

**Turning to leave, the Gundam Meister muttered to know one, "Sayonara, Jura."**

* * *

**Setsuna stared longingly at the blackness of space, silently wishing he could wear a bra like Tieria. Blinking several times, he discovered that he wasn't staring into space, but at a gaping hole a Dread had exploded through, weapons blaring in every direction. Also, all those pretty stars were just his mind rebooting.**

**Sitting up, he found he had been flung on top of another catwalk, this one more stable and concrete than the last. Unharmed, he rose to his feet and scanned the area for Hibiki.**

**Surprisingly, the younger boy was not far away, just a catwalk below the Krugis boy. A crushing weight gave him a splitting headache, so he felt around with his hands. He found something soft, leathery, and firm hanging above him. So, of course, he squeezed and wiggled it.**

"**What the heck is this?" He exclaimed as he blinked his eyes. Then, he realized he was gazing into a ghost mask on top of a purple hood. Screaming, he shoved the body off of him and crawled away.**

**He stopped when a bubbly voice called out to him and, slowly, turning his head, found the monster reaching out to him.**

**It pulled off its helmet and shrugged off its biosuit, revealing a beautiful, cherry-haired girl. She wore a light pink jacket over a black tank top and covered her legs in a long skirt that matched her hair. Blinking her deep blue eyes, she exclaimed joyfully, "Wow! A real life alien!"**

"**Alien…" Hibiki muttered in confusion, praying this women didn't want devour his liver.**

**Without taking her eyes off him, the young girl raised her hand, clenched it, unclenched it, clenched it again, and unclenched it again. Again.**

**Hibiki, praying, again, this wasn't some death threat in Mejarien, repeated this process perfectly.**

**In response the girl clapped her hands together and smiled widely, eyes aglow.**

"**I did it! It worked! I made first contact!"**

**A loud thud echoed behind Hibiki, causing the two to leap in fear (well, at least one of them.) Swerving his head around the young man found Setsuna standing behind him.**

"**Where the hell have you been?" Hibiki cried out nervously and with a smile on his face.**

"**I could ask you the same thing. Done playing with your new friend?"**

"**Its not my—"**

"**Oh my god! What luck!" Shouted the young girl, eye shining. "Two aliens! This is the greatest trip ever!"**

**Setsuna quickly passed over the idea of shooting the girl dead, mostly because explaining it to Tieria would be a pain in the ass. Instead, he squeezed his hand, causing a GN mine to explode far below them, shaking the catwalk.**

"**Now, Hibiki!" He shouted, grabbing the younger boy's wrist and dragging him to his feat. The leapt down to a ledge below them, making sure they grabbed the egg robot on their way.**

"**Hey wait a second!" The red-haired maiden squealed, "I just want to take a picture!"**

"**Tieria, you there?" Setsuna said over the comm system in his helmet.**

"**Just finished changing. God! I hate bras!" Responded the fellow Meister, his male voice back.**

"**Prepare the GN Arms, I just got a reading from the new section of the Ikazuchi. They're planning to hit this place with a torpedo once the pirate's main ship gets close." Setsuna said in between jumps from catwalk to catwalk.**

"**Sorry, but I don't think I wanna have my guts eaten by women today!" Shouted Hibiki in between breathes at the young female chasing him.**

"…**Is that who I think it is?" Tieria asked.**

"**Yes, that's him," Setsuna stated bluntly.**

"**Mr. Alien! Lets sit down and have a little chat," the red-haired girl shouted back at the two men.**

"**Dita?" Tieria bellowed.**

"**Know her?" Setsuna queried as he reached the exit to the Paeksis chamber.**

"**Yah. She's one of the Dread pilots in my squadron. What the hell is she doing there?"**

"**How should I know? Look, just have the GN Arms prepared to leave. Hibiki and I will be there in time."**

"**And if you're not?"**

"**You know what to do."**

"**Roger. Good luck with Dita."**

"**Right," Setsuna replied dryly as the trio entered a long hallway.**

**Hibiki stumbled behind him, losing his bag in the process.**

"**Hey! Who was that you were talking to and what was that about a torpedo?"**

"**A friend of mine who can get us out of here," Setsuna said without missing a beat, "And the Taraak military is planning to bomb this place with all of us inside!"**

"**What?!"**

"**Don't worry. As long as we follow this route we'll be out of here before they fire," To himself he mumbled, "As long as they don't get trigger happy."**

"**Hey! Mr. Aliens, why are you running away?" Dita inquired, our a few feet behind them.**

"**Not only are women the scariest things I've ever seen, but they don't make any sense either!" Hibiki proclaimed.**

**Setsuna had to suppress a smile as they entered the chamber below the Paeksis chamber. What the hell were they thinking when they built this place? He thought to himself. Strangely enough, he sense two life forces above him.**

"**Stop following us!"**

"**Mr. Aliens! Wait!"**

'**Would you look at that Meia? She's chasing a man.' A seductive, female voice entered Setsuna's head.**

"**Wait please! Ooof!**

**Setsuna turned his head to find that they're little stalker had been tackled by a blue-haired female just a few years younger than him.**

'**Good.' He thought, 'Lets let pirates take care of pirates.'**

**Suddenly, they stopped. Before them was a gaping hole where a Dread had dug into the ship. Trekking into it, they found themselves in the hangar for Vanguards.**

"**Perfect!" Exclaimed Hibiki as he dashed around the room, "Now where's that Vanguard?"**

**Setsuna hid a warm smile from the younger boy, slipping into the back of the room. With eyes that no normal human had he found a slit in the wall. Running a finger over it, he muttered, "Passcode, Setsuna F. Seiei. Command Key 8902394."**

"**Hey Setsuna, where did you go?"**

**Setsuna ignored Hibiki as invisible gears shifted in the ground, and, with a slight hiss, the wall slid open. Within the darkness beyond twin emerald lights hummed to life, spreading GN particles everywhere. Gundam 00 stood roughly 19 meters high, bearing twin wings on either shoulder over its GN Drives and matching swords on its hips.**

"**What the hell is that?" Hibiki shouted with both awe and fear.**

"**00 Gundam." Setsuna declared with a proud smile. As he climbed into the cockpit he shouted, "Get loaded up. We need to leave now."**

"**Yah," was all Hibiki could say as he backtracked out of the room. Climbing over a pile of rubble, he found a damaged vanguard lying on its back.**

"**There you are partner!"**

**Climbing into the main seat (and still clutching the navi robot) he awkwardly slid into the cockpit.**

"**Um…how do you work this thing?"**

* * *

**On the bridge of the new section, all the helmsmen rose to their feat and saluted the battered ark of their ancestry. Twin torpedoes arched through space, carrying death upon men and women together.**

**Belvedere gazed with wide eyes at her monitor. Finally, after collecting herself, she shouted to the Captain, "30 seconds to impact! We can't avoid a direct hit!"**

"**Hit or miss," The Captain spat bitterly, "Either way it's our destiny."**

* * *

**As soon as they were onboard their Dreads, Jura and Meia hovered above the ground, ready to get the hell out of there. Except, they'd forgotten someone.**

"**Dita!" Meia exclaimed as she looked over her should at the young pilot's ship.**

**The blue ship shook violently as its engines tried fruitlessly to push itself out of all the debris atop of it.**

"**Woah! My Dread is stuck and I can't get out!" She exclaimed nervously.**

-

"**Come on dammit! Move!" Hibiki barked at his Vanguard, banging the joysticks back and forth.**

-

"**13 Seconds!"**

-

"**Dita!"**

"**We can't wait any longer." Jura said begrudgingly.**

-

**Twin spears of death rained down upon the Ikazuchi, mere moments away.**

-

**Tieria slipped briskly into the GN Arms, flipping it on with one hand while the other steered it to the exit.**

"**Setsuna! You there! They launched early!" He clamored into his helmet.**

-

'**Come on! Move dammit!'**

'**11 Seconds.'**

'**Dita'**

'**Hit or miss, either way it's our destiny.'**

'**Setsuna!'**

'**Help me!'**

**In a mere moment, Gundam Meister Setsuna F. Seiei entered his pass code into his monitor and shouted a single word.**

"**Trans-Am!"**

**As death burrowed down upon the unlucky few, a lustrous God burst to life and empowered the radiant Angel, filling its fears and hopes into the single young warrior. And with a flick of his wrist, they were gone.**

* * *

*Preview*

"I don't know what I should do."

The Gundam Meister gazed down upon the young Taraak boy with both pity and wonder. As the guards tugged at his wrist, he said one word.

"Fight."

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the newest chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm planning on setting up a timetable so that I'll have new chapters posted either every Tuesday or Thursday, but with the way Gundam 00 S2 is looking right now I may disappear for a while to redesign my original ideas.

Anyways, please review.


	4. He was falling

Many apologies for this chapter being so late. Lots of things came up (brother's wedding, school, sickness, spring break madness, etc...) and just couldn't fine much time to watch Vandread and transcribe it. On the upside, Gundam 00's ending matches quite well with my original ideas so I should be able to pop out chapters quiet easily (easier than before).

So with all that behind me, I do not own either Gundam 00 or Vandread but welcome you to experience both.

* * *

A blood-tinged twilight flared across the roof of the world holding in its womb a grey sun that just peaked over the horizon. Below, towers of steel protruded into its sight, greedy gangly claws lusting after the sky. From far away they seemed to cradle the light for all to see but never touch. Still, human curiosity is not so easily thwarted.

Beyond the wall of the city, the lowly black and white shadows of men surged sluggishly towards the light. Their eyes, hallow and devoid of reason, stared longingly at their plunder as their fat hands reached to the heavens. Like flies bouncing against a light bulb, they lumbered on.

However, none showed more conviction, or more idiocy, than Hibiki Tokei.

Breathing heavily, he pushed and shoved through the herds of men, all the while muttering to just get a little closer.

'If I could only get a little bit closer, only get a little bit further, maybe I can make…If I get up ahead a little bit more, get a little bit higher, maybe I can see everything!'

His face contorted in pain the youth valiantly struggled through the last stretch of cows to the wall. Mouth gaping open and eyes wide with anticipation he reached into the world beyond the crowd.

'Just a little bit more!'

Adrenalin spiked in his blood as he stumbled backwards. Crystallized spikes burst forth from the ground, impeding his odyssey. Within each was a woman, the same he'd seen on the ship. He knew this not from their faces, which were enshrouded in darkness, but their odd choice of clothing. For a brief moment he thought of the girl who'd stalked him through the Ikazuchi, the glowing smile and sparkling eyes she'd flashed him.

Bolting around these distractions, he reached the wall, not a wall made of concrete or steel, but of a stone. Planting his fingers in the splintery rampart, the young man hefted himself up.

"Just a little further," he repeated in breaths, "Just a little bit more!"

His hand met empty air as he reached the top, hauling himself into the heavens.

"Just a little…"

He stopped abruptly, transfixed by the sun. It was not grey, but aqua, shimmering as twin torpedoes rained down upon him.

_

He was falling. Or was he flying?

Setsuna did not know. Up and down were imaginary ideas based on perspective, especially in empty space.

Light was all there was, ever shining, ever growing. Setsuna's clothes cast away, the light surrounded him, clothed him, protected him. Screams echoed in his head, small, insignificant. Hibiki, Tieria, Meia, Jura, and Dita. They were with him, but unlike him, scared, trapped, falling.

One would think that after using Double-O Gundam Setsuna would be accustomed such a situation, but this was different. The Light was different. With Gundam it moved around him like the ripples in a pond, systematic, tranquil. But this was…distorted. Chaotic. Scared.

'The Paeksis.' He thought to himself and not to himself, his own thoughts no longer private. All who listened heard. 'Is it scared? Is it trying to protect us?'

A new light appeared before him, a light of crimson fear. Grasping out with his hands, Setsuna let this fear wash over him. The Paeksis's fear became his fear, its worries his. And then it was gone.

"Who are you?" A thousand voices asked.

"Gundam."

Life sparked into his eyes in the form of shifting golden streaks. In a heartbeat, a trail of GN particles exploded behind him as Setsuna F. Seiei delved into the chaos to sever the distortion.

_

The twin Muramasa torpedoes detonated across the hull of the Ikazuchi's old section. Fire spilled forth into the ensuing darkness, metal boiling into the endless abyss. And then it was all gone.

…

And then it was.

Shades of a radiant purple light exploded many systems away, coiling through the abyss like a small (very, very, very small) newborn sun. In the flash of a solar flare, the Ikazuchi and Pirate ship spilled forth into the third-dimension once again.

Undamaged, but still not unchanged. Tendrils of crystallized light bloomed across the hull of the Ikazuchi, emanating from the Paeksis core. Crackling with lightning, scales formed over the wounds in the ship, layering upon them selves to hold it together as shards of metal returned to their home. Within, jagged roots sprouted from the walls and ceilings and floors, entangling the organs of the ship and pulsing a faint blue light.

At the base of the ship branches stretched out and grasped the Pirate ship with crystal fingers. With a jerk, they pulled the ships together, fusing the roof of the pirate ship to the base of the Ikazuchi. Another plot of land for the Paeksis to plant its seeds.

_

The Pirates, however, were not so happy about this revelation.

In the bridge, Magno returned to the land of the living with a groan, "This certainly doesn't look like the afterlife. Where the hell are we?"

"I'll check." Belvedere responded as she recovered from the space jump, but she got nowhere before the bridge shook violently.

"What's going on now? Is the crystal trying to eat the ship?" Queried the Captain again, her old bones barely keeping themselves together.

_

Many levels above her in the hangar Jura awoke to a stabbing pain in her chest. Apparently, either member of her chest had rolled to the sides. Moaning seductively, the blood blinked several times at the topsy-turvy room.

Along all pieces of metal layers of layers of a spidery crystal web entangled the tattered remains of the hangar.

"Jura!" Rolling her head, Jura found her leader sitting not that far away, her chest fine and dandy. "Dita?"

"Hiiiiii!" The young girl answered joyfully, "Over here!"

She waved lazily and plopped herself down on the floor, grey bags hanging from her eyelids. "Something went BEEP! And then BOOM! And I don't know what happened. Alien power is amazing!" She exclaimed, enunciating the last words of each sentence.

Meia blinked several times at her trainee before studying the gaping hole above her. To her surprise, she found a familiar purple-haired figure hanging from its maw.

"Jura! Get up! We need to help her!"

_

Unlike the pirates, Tieria did not have the luxury of awakening on the ground. However, decades of space travel had made weightlessness quite dull. Blinking several times at the Amazonian below him, the Meister sighed dryly and returned to sleep. Better not to be awake when they realize his chest had been blown off in the explosion.

_

Back on the bridge…

The Captain, unlike the Taraak Prime Minister, had quickly adapted to the situation. Each of the bridge members was tirelessly hunched over their monitors with an assignment.

"Gascogne!" An image of the burly left-hand-woman appeared before the Captain. "Do you think you can detach us?"

"I can't do it with a laser," She responded with her signature needle in her lips *no idea what the hell she has in her mouth. * "And if we don't hurry, this place will get swallowed up too."

With a beep and a flash, the right-hand-woman appeared on the screen, "The corrosion has started to spread throughout the ship."

Another beep and flash and Parfet popped into the conversation, "The engines dead, too, so we can't move!"

"Hmm," the Captain hummed as she rolled all this over in her head, "So we got to get rid of it at the source. I'm going up! BC, Parfet! Come with me!"

"Roger." They replied as one.

_

In a small cruiser, the three of them and a series of aids exited via the only working hangar, jettisoning them selves up to the Ikazuchi part of the ship. Entering the hangar, the Captain clutched her walking staff tightly and exclaimed, "This is amazing."

Waddling forward she nodded to Meia and her crew.

"Sorry about this, Captain. There is no need for you to come up here." The Dread leader said submissively.

"You don't need to apologize. I simply wanted to see this with my own eyes," Then she noticed a small boy sprawled out on the floor, "Hmm?"

"This is the man Dita was chasing," Meia answered.

Gazing deeply into the contorted features of Hibiki's face, the Captain said nostalgically, "It's been a while since I last saw a man. Were their faces really this funny looking?"

Meia shifted from one foot to the other, unable to answer the captain's question.

"Is there something else?"

"Well, we found someone else, but…"

Then the old crone saw him. He was dressed in a pilot's uniform that she found rather familiar, but could not place it. What caught her eye, however, was his short purple hair and feminine but stern demeanor. Though her chest was gone and hair far shorter, this was Tieria.

"How…" Was all the old woman could muster before the young man awoke.

"Morning, Captain." He said dryly, "Guess you want an explanation."

_

Dusty grey white and black clouds fluidly shifted around Hibiki as he felt a rush of adrenalin pass through him. His whole body "rippled," almost as if a stone had been through into him like a pond. Lightheaded and nauseous, the third-class citizen struggled to keep upright in the four-dimensional realm.

"What are you?" A robotic voice asked, dull and grey like the space around him.

"You mean me?" He responded as he gazed into the grey. "I'm Hibiki."

"Hibiki." A female voice repeated briskly, echoing from the body of the aqua haired girl he'd seen in his dream.

"The term for this organic being or a personal name?" The once red haired girl asked with eyes so wide they nearly touched.

"Why have you come?" The once blond haired girl questioned as she floated upside down.

"Are your objectives instinctual or preconceived?" The egg shaped robot chirped up, its screen fazed out with black and white lines.

"I don't know why I'm here! I was just sick of everything!" Hibiki cried desperately. Memories flashed through his head, "I just wanted to escape from my life. Nobody respects me just because of how I look and where I work!"

"Response incomprehensible." The droid declared.

"What exactly is a 'Hibiki'?" Blondie.

"What do you mean 'what am I?'"

"I mean…" Red.

"…exist?" Blondie.

"What is the proof that you are? Who you are? Who you are?" the voices echoed.

"Why do you need proof? Can't you tell from just looking at me?" Hibiki growled sharply.

"That response is primal. Three-dimensional." They faded away, leaving the boy to his questions.

"Hold on! Who are you?" He shouted as the world crumbled like a shattered mosaic window. "Where is this? Somebody tell me what I'm supposed to do! Why am I here? What's going on?"

His shouts disappeared into the blinking emerald light of the sky above, but not before an answer befell him.

"Live!" Shouted Setsuna, who barreled towards him in a shroud of red light. He grasped the younger lad at the wrists, and, with a tug, they awoke.

_

Again, Setsuna found himself staring longingly at the black abyss above him, but this time it was really space. Before his eyes, clouds of metal and crystal encased the world above, pressurizing the room.

"Paeksis," Was all the young man said as he rose to his feet. Spinning in place, he was surprised to find that he was not in the cockpit of Double-O, but in the dreadful remains of the hangar. "Paeksis."

"Hold it right there!"

Keeping as still as a deer in the headlights, Setsuna stretched his mind out to the rough female voice. 'That uniform, it's the one Tieria was wearing. Could they be accomplices?'

"That's exactly what we are," Setsuna declared before placing his hands on his head and turning to face the voice. Meia, that was her name. The same woman who'd saved him from Dita. 'I should thank her,' he thought as his eyes dimmed from gold to red.

"I said Hold it!" She shouted, her thoughts muddy, raising her laser-ring.

'How the hell did he know what I was thinking?'

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Setsuna said nothing, but rather bowed to the girl. "Thank you!"

"What?"

"Earlier, in the Paeksis chamber, you saved my friend and I from Dita. Thank you." He said again, raising his head.

'What the hell is going on here?'

"I would suggest you take me to your superiors. I have much to explain to them," Setsuna pleaded, hoping to salvage the situation.

"Grr…" Growled the Amazonian as she stretched her hand out, "Take off your belt and throw me any weapons you have."

Slowly and gently, Setsuna detached his belt and dropped it into Meia's hand.

"Now, take me to your leaders." He turned around, hands against his head.

The woman said nothing as she put her ring against the center of his spine and pushed Setsuna forward. They only took two steps before they were interrupted.

"Setsuna's alright! Setsuna's alright!"

An orange sphere no bigger than a soccer ball bounced out from behind a pillar, its "ears" flapping up and down.

"Setsuna's alright! Setsuna's alright!" The Haro robot repeated as it bounced up and down with joy.

"What the hell is that thing?" The woman shouted as she raised her ring to shoot it.

Gently, Setsuna lowered her wrist, "Don't worry. He can't hurt anyone."

"Haro nice! Haro nice!"

"Grr…Don't touch me!" The capturer snarled as she pulled her wrist away briskly. Waving her ring at her captive, "Pick that thing up and start walking."

He did so, curling the orange AI in his arms.

"She scary! She scary!"

Setsuna smiled as he petted the little droid. 'You stowed away in the GN Arms didn't you?'

'Haro be quiet. Haro be careful. Haro want to help.'

'Don't worry you'll get your chance.'

_

Hibiki awoke with a jolt, banging his head on the shelf he sat under.

"Owww!" He cried. Blinking the pain away he found himself in another storage room locked with aqua energy bars. Again. "Oh man! Well it looks like I'm stuck behind bars again, huh?"

"You're awake," A sly male voice stated form Hibiki's left.

"Who's there?"

In the corner sat what only can be described as a rare beauty. Long raven hair cascaded down a tanned young man's face, obscuring half of his features in alluring suspense. A white and red jacked hung around his shoulders; three large green dots on the right signified he was in the military. Slightly open, it revealed a muscular chest seemingly cared from gold by the gods lightly wrapped in a black tank top.

"My name's Duelo McFile. Do you also have a name, Mr. Third Class citizen?" He asked with a smirk.

"Don't make fun of me!" Hibiki sternly replied, "My name is Hibiki Tokei and I'm not just another Third-Class citizen!"  
"You're the one who cause all that ruckus during the ceremony, right? How'd you manage to sneak in anyway?"

"There sure are a lot of questions today!" He snarled, "Anyways…"

"BBBEEEE!" Moaned the navi robot lying at his feat. Rolling onto its back, it beeped "Pyoro!" before hopping to life. Feet and arms popped out as it landed, large eyes flashing onto its monitor. Scratching its head (Do robots itch?) Pyoro hummed, "Hmm. Where am I? Who am I?"

"You've changed a bit haven't you?" Hibiki asked with a dull expression.

_

Deep within the hangar Bart Garcus gently tapped an inner wall of Lord Grandpa's statue. The crystal holding it together cracked and crumbled to dust, freeing the young recruit.

"Sure in big mess now," He stated dumbly as he wondered around the remains of the once great ship, "What the heck happened to the ship?"

His voice echoed of a nearby piece of stalactite the size of a house, which promptly came crushing to the ground. Knocked on his ass, Bart yelped like a wounded dog and crawled clear of the resounding dust clouds. Crawled right into Meia's hips.

Horror danced across his face as he stared into the pink light of the pirate's laser ring. It was an upside to the distorted glare emanating from her eyes.

"H-Hi there!" He stuttered with a pathetic smile.

_

'My third trip around this place and I find myself another weirdo!' Meia curse to herself as she escorted the recruit to the storage room. 'What the hell is going on here?'

_

Throughout the ship others were wondering the same thing.

The crystal connecting the two ships together flared as it pulled them closer. A blue haired "stage-hand"/engineer squinted into a massive hole in the roof of the registry. Thunder rumbled up ad down the ship causing flakes of crystal to rain down on the poor girl.

"Wow! Ms. Gasco! It looks like we're connected from the inside too!" She exclaimed.

On the level below her the third in command chewed on her needle as the ladies around her sliced into the crystal patches with laser drills. Loaming over the monitor the burly woman said, "Well that's just great. I did not know the Paeksis had such incredible amounts of power and energy. By the way…

"Its not Gasco! Its Gascogne!"

_

In the Paeksis chamber Paiway faced her own slice of frustration. As she scanned either ship on her laptop, she declared, "Just as I feared. The ships are linked all the way down to the core! We got to do something! Try and insert the light-star particles into the main cable right away. Just make it so we can control this thing!"

_

In the Med room…

Barnnette banger her fist on the green viewing screen to the showers, her brown bangs waving angrily in response.

"Paiway! Let us out!" She cried as disinfectants rained down upon her and her fellow scantily clad pilots. "It's freezing in here!"

"Not until all the male germs are gone," Stated the young nurse in a matter of fact tone. She jutted down the days interesting little tidbits amidst the chaos. "Even in times of crisis like this the super cute Paiway never loses her cool."

And in some ways, she was right.

_

Back in the storage room the two and a half (?) men seemed to be far away from the commotion around him. Duelo lazily hung his head as he watched Hibiki fight with the robot formally known as Pyoro. Its screen would randomly flicker with white fuzz and beep strange words, but when Hibiki offered to fix it the robot leapt up and down with rage. For a moment Duelo thought a vein (cable?) was pulsing along its back.

"I'm not broken!"

"Well what to you want?"

Footsteps clattered to a stop just outside their cell. Opening his one visible eye Duelo gazed upon an intimidating silver-haired woman and two women who seemed to be her aids. Behind them was a familiar black haired boy holding an orange sphere in his arms.

"Women!" Hibiki splat with more fear than disgust as he backed away. "What do you plan on doing with us? Why are you here?"

"Try and stay calm. This is the safest place for you right now," assured the older women.

"Sure you say that! But…you wanna eat my guts!"

"Eat your...guts?" The woman queried as giggles splashed out of her aids' mouths.

"Hahaha! He actually believes that!"

Smiling wickedly the leader said, "Before we have dinner I'd like to ask you something's. Come with me please."

She disabled the locks and while here aids cuffed either man, Hibiki noticed Setsuna.

"Setsuna! What are you doing here?"

He raised his cuffs in response.

"Oh yah."

"You two know each other?" Asked their captor, who eyed Setsuna with suspicion.

"He friend? He friend?" Chirped the orange ball in his arms.

Setsuna looked from Haro to his captors to Duelo to Pyoro and lastly Hibiki.

"Yes."

And that was that. As the little group marched through the maze of halls, Duelo leaned towards Setsuna and asked, "How did you know they'd need a doctor?"

"I didn't. Just had a feeling."

Duelo frowned at the mediocre answer. "Who are you really?"

"I will tell you all that you need to know in due time," Setsuna bluntly declared and then pointed at Hibiki, "Watch."

Duelo raised his eyebrow at the even younger young man, who was staring with a keen eye at the chests and hips of his guards.

"What the hell do they have in those things?"

Leaning forward he "poked" one of their "packages." The young girl squealed and, with fiery red cheeks, smacked her assaulter up side the head. Both Duelo and Setsuna couldn't subdue short, warm smiles of joy as they watched their fellow man's face was mutilated from the Pirates' Secret Open Palm Technique.

_

"What the hell is going on?" Jura exclaimed as she pointed at Tieria's flat chest.

Tieria raised one eyebrow slowly but said nothing.

"What the hell is going on?"

Tieria raised the other eyebrow slowly but said nothing.

"What the hell is going on?"

Since he had no more eyebrows to raise he leaned his head back and counted the ceiling panels. 42.

"Calm down Jura," Magno said sternly but calmly.

"But what the hell is going on?" She shouted one last time.

"Look! If you're not going to be patient then you can wait outside. Am I clear?"

"Argh!" She growled, shaking her big hips as she stomped away.

"Thank you Captain." Tieria said.

"You be quiet too," Magno spat, "I'm still debating whether or not to kill you yet. The only reason you are alive is to satisfy my curiosity, as well as other reasons…"

Not a moment later Buzam and her merry band stepped through the door.

"I've brought the prisoners as you asked, Captain," the silver-haired vixen reported.

"Very good. You gentlemen take a seat while we wait for Meia to arrive. Apparently she found another one of you."

Tieria looked up for a moment, glanced over his fellow prisoners (spending one second more on the one holding the orange bowling ball), and let his head fall back again. 'What happened to the little guy?' He thought to no one.

Setsuna's quantum brainwaves flared, 'Touched one of his guards the wrong way.'

'That explains the red mark.'

Next to him Hibiki rubbed his face, "Why the heck did she do that?"

"A gentlemen should never be rude to a lady!" Piped up the little navi robot.

"Hey I don't even know what you're talking about!"

'Loud isn't he? I don't see how you survive around him.' Tieria thought to Setsuna.

The door hissed open as Meia marched Bart in at ring-point.

"Hey, comrades, glad to see you here," He announced with a nervous laugh.

"I found him hiding in the platform," Meia declared as she pushed Bart into the spot between Setsuna and Hibiki.

"Well, looks like we're all here," The Captain declared as she stepped forward. "But you're all a bunch of kids."

"Hey! Its time to interrogate!" Pyoro shouted joyfully, "I'll tell you everything!"

"Oh look at this! A navi robot. Haven't seen one of those since I was a little girl," She said nostalgically, her ancient eyes passing over each of the men and stopping at Setsuna. "I've seen you before. What's your name, boy?"

He said nothing, and when Haro tried to chirp up he tightened his grip on it.

"Well? You're not mute are you?"

"This is a waste, Captain," Meia said as her laser ring hummed to life, "We should just dump them out an airlock. We have enough trouble as it is."

"Now lets not be too hasty. I still wanna see how charbroiled man tastes," She licked her lips slowly before turning to Tieria, "And I'd also like to know why the hell you betrayed us."

Just like his friend, Tieria said nothing.

"Well? Your voice box get blown off along with your breasts?"

All but one of his fellow prisoners gave Tieria a wide-eyed stare, however none could think of anything to say. Except for the idiots.

"You had breast?!" Both Hibiki and Bart shouted as one, scooting away with much haste.

"Hey," Hibiki nudged Setsuna, "Is this the friend of yours you mentioned earlier?"

Still as stone.

"Well, well, so you two don't just have the same fashion sense. Mind explaining."

Mums the word.

"Captain," Buzam said, "I'd have to agree with Meia. This is rather pointless."

"Now, now Buzam. Give the boy a chance."

Cat got your tongue?  
"Talk!" Shout Meia. In two steps she crossed the room and firmly placed her laser ring against Setsuna's head. Everyone stood nice and still, even the machines. For a matter of seconds they all just breathed recycled air over and over again.

Finally, Tieria leaned forward and said, "Get comfortable. There's a long story behind all of this."

"Tieria!" Setsuna growled through clenched teeth with an anger that even made Meia step back.

"Alright then. But this better be a good story," Magno mused with a grin. To one of her aides, "Can you get me a bowl of jello please?" And to the other, "And a chair?"

They were out of the room in a flash, and thus freeing everyone from the tense chains that restrained them all in place. Almost robotically Meia stepped away from Setsuna and stood as far away as possible, glaring with the intensity of a thousand suns. He didn't even notice, inclined to glaring at Tieria with the intensity of a thousand dying suns and rubbing the blisters left behind by Meia's ring. When the aides return the Captain took her seat and jello with a ravenous sigh. It was strange for the young men to see such a power figure so relaxed.

"Well? Begin your little tale."

Tieria wrapped his fingers together as if to pray. With a deep breathe, he began.

"In the year 2307 A.D. the humans on Earth had depleted all fossil fuels and left without any means to maintain the machines they'd grown so dependent on. To deal with this 'crisis,' scientists and engineers used the manuscripts of Quantum Physicist Aeolia Schenberg to design and build the Orbital Elevator System. Basically, three 50-thousand-kilometer-high compressive elevators were placed across the globe, connected by two geostationary rings at 10-thousand-kilometers and 40-thousand-kilometers above the equator. Along these rings were numerous solar panels that constantly supplied energy to the surface."

"Wait! Hold up," Bart pleaded, "I'm not exactly following you."

"Orbital what…" Hibiki tilted his head to the side, dumbfounded.

"Let me explain," Pyoro said, "May I borrow that?" He pointed at Haro.

Without hesitation Setsuna handed Pyoro his little orange friend.

"Imagine that this guy is Earth and I have placed two rings around him, one larger than the other, that are connected to him via three metal bars. Now, along each of the rings are mirrors that absorb solar energy."

"Oh, now I get it," Bart exclaimed, "So basically our ancestors designed a way to create clean renewable energy for all. Genius."

"Yes and no. The technology did have the capabilities to power every machine across all of Earth as well as colonies, however, like all things good it came at a price.

"For each of the Orbital Elevators there was a world power to maintain them. Governing North and South America as well as the nations of Australia and Japan, was the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations. To the east sat the Human Reform League, a political and economic alliance of China, Russia, India, and Southern Asia. And lastly, was the Advanced European Union, obviously made up of the said continent.

"Though they had all banded together to design, construct, and defend the towers, they were not friends in any way. The only common characteristic was their exclusion of under-developed nations from solar energy. Reliant on fossil fuels to maintain their economies, these nations erupted into numerous wars. The largest of these was the Solar Wars, which engulfed the entire Middle-East and left millions dead or without home."

"Why exactly are you giving us a history lesson?" Meia barked.

As one, Setsuna, Buzam, and Magno each gave her a glare that would have stopped death in its trap. Clearing his throat, Tieria began once again.

"Once again, Aeolia Schenberg rescued the Earth. During his life and long after he set about creating a private military organization known as Celestial Being. The sole purpose of this organization was the complete and total eradication of war through armed conflict."

"Armed conflict? Isn't that a little hypocritical?" Duelo asked.

"While politicians talk people kill each other." Setsuna silenced him with this simple statement.

"They did this through the use of the revolutionary mobile units known as Gundams and their pilots the Gundam Meisters. Four key units were designed, each powered with solar furnaces called Gundam Nucleus's, or GN Drives for short. Following the missions and strategies suggested by the super computer Veda, these pilots intervened in nearly a hundred of armed conflicts, crippling either side's forces in the process. Slowly, the world's armies began to collapse

"After nearly six years of bloodshed, Celestial Being united the world against the organization, and then simply disappeared. With the world's hatred gone, it could heal. Resources once focused towards war were put to fighting poverty and developing smaller nations. Ultimately, humanity began to move towards space colonization."

"And here we are now," The Captain declared, "Back on the original colonization ship. But what exactly does this have to do with you two?"

Now it was Setsuna's chance to explain everything, "Even though mankind was united in peace, Celestial Being still had a purpose. Behind the scenes they worked to maintain the peace and protect humanity on its journey into space.

"We are the remnants of that mission. We are Celestial Being."

"You two boys?" Buzam dismissed the idea with a shrug.

"Were we not able to infiltrate your little band of pirates as well as the Taraak military with relative ease?" Tieria smirked, "We are only the vanguard for Celestial Being; hundreds of us exist, among both men and women."

"Why? Why return?" Duelo asked.

"Because you have failed. Men and women have failed to maintain the peace their ancestors died for," Setsuna responded venomously. "Mejare and Taraak are two of the largest and most prosperous colonies in the known universe. It would be a waste to allow them to descend any farther into war."

"But is for that up to you to judge?" Magno queried, tightening up her old bones as she sat up. "What of the will of the people?"

"Is it the will of the people to lead their families into a racial war? Is it the will of the people to focus efforts on war rather than building colonies?" Tieria replied.

Once again they were all silent as Magno and Tieria stared each other down, ancient eyes locked in an invisible struggle. Eventually, the old crone relented with a sigh.

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere arguing politics, so why don't you explain why you infiltrated our organization?"

"I already did," Tieria stated, "Didn't I? The whole point of assaulting the men's ship was to get 00 Gundam back."

"So that wasn't a lie. Was that why this young man here joined the military?" She nodded to Setsuna.

"Wait! What's this 00 Gundam?" Bart dared to ask.

"Its one of the original Gundams designed by Aeolia Schenberg," Setsuna proudly explained, "Some time before the colonization ships left Earth it was hidden within the Ikazuchi for safekeeping."

"So you getting recruited by the military…" Duelo began.

"False background, false identity," Setsuna ended.

"And the story about you killing a squad of Mejarian soldiers singlehandedly was false too?" Bart dared, again, to ask.

Setsuna shrugged, his expression void of all emotion as he said, "They were too close to one of our safe-houses. I neutralized them."

-

In the garden…

Pristine sapphire shards had sprung up here to, however unlike their web-like counterparts these added a bit of serenity to the already heavenly garden. This was one of the few areas in the ship where one could gaze into the gaping void that is the blackness of space and realize that this is just a physical representation of your soul….

Or one can compare the time it takes for a star's light to reach us to how hard it is for one's feelings to reach that special someone….

Maybe one can just ponder that each star has a different species of intelligent beings and the chances of meeting one is a chance you have to take. Even if everyone else wants to kill said intelligent beings.

All these things rattled around in Dita's head; not the first two, just the last. The alien one. Not the blackness of one's soul or their unrequited feelings.

Ezra, on a lighter note, was trying to figure out where the hell they were. Gazing into a small orb slash telescope, she flicked through the hundreds of constellations stored within the device.

"Oh, none of them match. I just don't get it," She whined in her pregnant way. Shhh…don't tell anyone. It's a surprise.

"Don't get it?" Dita exclaimed, leaning against the outer railing to the garden, "It's an amazing thing to actually come across an alien."

"You're right! It is amazing," The older woman exclaimed, excitement returning to her voice. Stupid mood swings. "We thought Paeksis was just an energy source, but it restored the whole ship."

"It made it just like new," Dita purred, "That means if I could get abducted—"

Ezra's sigh cut her off. Stupid mood swings.

"What's wrong Ezra? Don't you feel well?"

Setting down the orb slash telescope slash bowling ball, she exclaimed, "Oh, I'm fine Dita. I've just been thinking about everyone."

"I think about them too. All those people we left behind at our base."

"I'd really like to go back soon." Stupid moaning.

" Huh? Ahh!" Dita cried.

"What is it?"

"Hey! Look at that over there!" She cried out as she lunged half her body over the railing and pointed in the blackness of my soul. I mean space.

Utilizing the orb slash telescope slash bowling ball slash I've killed this joke, Ezra scanned the horizon. "Where—" Then she saw them. Three bright red lights moving through the void, slowly getting bigger. "What do you think they are?"

Dita danced around her friend like a cat chasing a fly and purred with ecstasy, "Isn't it obvious? They're UFOs!"

-

Back in the lounge?

Slowly, the Captain slid a spoonful of jello into her mouth, savory bite.

"So that long-haired boy is a doctor. But what about the other one?"

"He's an attacker." Meia quickly stated. Pyoro apparently agreed for he was literally trying to glare a hole into Hibiki's head.

"Wait minute! I'm not—" He didn't get to finish, for Bart jabbed his elbow into his shorter counterpart's stomach.

"Why you…" Hibiki muttered in rage as Bart smiled quite proudly to himself.

"I saw him with Setsuna climbing into an enemy powered suit."

"Wait a second—" Again Hibiki was cut off.

Over the loudspeaker Ezra said, "There's something approaching!"

Into her headset, Buzam asked, "Is it male reinforcements?"

"Actually—"

"They're UFOs!" A familiar peppy voice shouted over Ezra.

-

As the red lights grew closer to the ship they revealed themselves to be dark gray cubes outlined with lights. In a flash, they transformed, red tube-like arms and powerful legs sprouting from a flat head/torso. A single red eye scanned the newly born ship with a burning hatred. Or a laser beam. Four beams of lights rained down on the ship, and with the shield down they melted clear through the hull.

-

Within, fear fostered as Ezra, Dita and Pyoro shouted either "They're attacking!", "The aliens are attacking us!, or "Danger! Danger!" over and over again.

The entire ship shook violently as the attackers made another pass. The resulting shockwave caused the Captain to lose hold off her desert, the bowl shattering to the floor.

"Oh! My desert!" She groaned, longingly reaching for the red blobs.

"I'll launch the Dreads!" Meia shouted, already in the hall running.

"Parfet! Can you move us?" Buzam asked into her headset.

"The Paeksis is to unstable! I can't control it at all!" The engineer shouted from the Paeksis chamber. "And the automatic defense system is barely functioning."

-

As the Dread Leader bolted through the mazelike hallways she checked up on her sub-captains. Paiway had apparently trapped Barnette, along with most of the other pilots, in the evil shower dungeon. To make matters worse none of their ships could leave with the crystal still growing in the hangar. Also, Ms. Gasco was really named Gascogne. Who knew?

Playing her last card, Meia contacted Jura, "Jura, what's your location?"

"I'm heading towards the platform right now!"

As the pair entered that very section simultaneously they gasped, not at the mass of crystals that layered the entire room, but at how the Paeksis had caused their Dreads to grow twice their normal size. Nervously they hopped aboard their respective ships.

The cockpits hadn't changed much, still compact and barely large enough for one pilot. On the up side, the once complex control system had been replaced with two green orbs. Also, to Dita's delight, the overall system had powered up.

Ordering her underlings to keep cautious, the Dread Leader led the trio out of the platform and right into the heart of battle.

Initially the awkwardness of the new controls made it impossible to the pilots to score a direct hit. The only thing that kept them from being blown to bits was their superior speed, which didn't really do much in the long run. While Jura and Meia focused on trying the kill the attackers, Dita tried a different approach.

"Um! Mister Aliens!" She shouted as her Dread bounced around the enemy fire. "We're a very peaceful race! Maybe we can talk about our differences!"

The cube-types responded by with a hail of laser fire. Dita barreled away from the shots, nicking the side of Jura's Dread in the process. Only a little ticked, Jura spun her Dread out of the gunfire and shouted at her fellow squad captain, "Dita! These are our enemies!" But to herself she mumbled, "She was never that good of a pilot."

Unlike her cohorts, Meia had finally gotten a hold of the new system and quickly annihilated a pair of cube-types with a flash of plasma bolts.

"The instruments respond differently." She stated as images of the other two popped up on her monitor.

"I'm not really sure who the enemy is. Its definitely not men," Jura stated, out of breath.

"Its obvious isn't it?" Dita responded, her face flushed with rage for once, "These are really bad aliens!"

Just as she finished her sentence three explosions rippled across the bow of the ship. A large black ship shaped like a clamshell descended upon them, its center opening up to a massive stockpile of cube-types. It spat out two large cubes, which quickly broke down into nearly thirty units.

As they rushed towards her, Meia dared to question, "What the heck are those things? Are they really aliens?"

-

Buzam leaned over one of the monitors in the lounge, sorting through the half a dozen voices coming through it. Complaints and reports were coming in from all sections of the ship, some relevant and some miniscule.

Finally, the Captain ordered her second in command to go to the bridge and take full control of the ship. However, just as she entered the hallway another explosion rippled through the ship, causing a piece of one of the walls to come crumble down on guard Hibiki had earlier poked. She laid sprawled out on the floor, her breathing slow and lower half buried under rumble.

"Are you okay? I'll get you out of here!" Her partner cried as tears dripped from her eyelids.

"No!" Duelo shouted from the couch, "You mustn't move her!"

The guard quickly pointed her laser-ring at him, intent on protecting her friend from all harm.

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm a doctor," Duelo assured her as he hopped over the couch and hurried to the young girl's side. "I just want to see what I can do for her. I'll need your help."

The guard quickly nodded her head and they went to work gently moving the rubble off of the young girl.

From the couch Bart studied the situation carefully, blinking several times at Duelo. Spinning around to the Captain, he drew upon a more confident demeanor as he said, "Well now, it certainly appears you could use some assistance. While the fact is we are enemies, I think right now we're going to have to make our survival top priority. And, well, you may wish to use my skills. You see, I happen to be a helmsmen."

"Oh, so the gentlemen claims he's a helmsmen," The Captain responded.

"Warning!" Pyoro yelled, pointing one finger menacingly at the young man, "Warning! This guy's trying to pull something!"

"Pyoro, you keep quiet now," The Captain ordered, intrigued by Bart's suggestion, "Well then, what do you have to say?"

"Okay. I was thinking we could call for a ceasefire right now. Maybe we can all help each other somehow," He dared to step forward, making sure to bow his head to the older woman as he did so, "It might be much smarter for us to gather our forces and get over this crisis together."

One eye watching the young man from underneath her hood, Magno politically dance with the young boy, "Interesting. That's not a bad idea."

Bart gave a little laugh. Nervous as he was, he was able to keep from shaking under the old crone's gaze. Extending his hand he said, "I appreciate you taking my advice. So, what do you say we shake on it?"

This old crone wasn't going to played that way, Magno thought as she batted Bart's hand away with her cane.

"I've no wish to get chummy," She declared as she rose to her full fight, "You'll still be treated as one of our prisoners."

"Whatever you say madam," Bart laughed, stumbling in his dance steps.

Up until now Tieria and Setsuna had be calmly sitting back and watching the ship fall apart around them, but now they both knew they had to act. Rising, Tieria offered himself to the Captain.

"Take me to the bridge. I should be able to help you get control of her ship."

"Oh really? What makes you think we'll trust you? You did betray us once before." Magno queried.

"Cause if you don't your whole crew could die. I don't think you're that heartless of a person to let that happen over one person performing his job."

"Hmm…alright. Granted. Not like there is anything you can do."

"I can't do anything from here!" Duelo shouted, his frustration reaching his peak. Really, it's not that bad. "I need you to take me to sickbay!"

"Alright then," Magno said. Though she didn't show it, she was glad to see all the support coming from her enemies. Maybe we can salvage this situation, she mused.

"You two young men will come with me to the bridge," She ordered Bart and Tieria. To Setsuna, she asked, "And what about you young man? You going to let your friend here do all the work?"

Setsuna sat their silently, quickly glancing at Hibiki (who'd been cowering on the floor) before saying, "He can handle it. Besides, there's not much I can do other than kill. You probably don't need one of your enemies with a gun in their hands right now."

"Right you are. BC, you take the attacker and him to the warehouse." Magno ordered, rising rather quickly for her age and marching her set of prisoners down one end of the hall.

Calling upon another aid to help her, BC led Hibiki and Setsuna through the dark, crystal coated hallways. Ominous crimson lights clashed against the shadows as their only way to navigate the vast hallways. Numerous holes and cracks lined the walls, some as small as a fingernail, others as big as man.

Leaning into one such hole BC commented on the disastrous situation. "Well it looks like it will be a while before this place stabilizes. I'm afraid we won't live to long if we can't get control of this ship. It'll probably be the end of us if the men attack."

"Hey um…" Hibiki muttered quietly.

"What is it?"

"Uh... I know I haven't said too much so far but I wanna say something," He cleared his throat and stared at the ground, to nervous to look at his captor What I want to say is that I'm not actually a Vanguard pilot. The truth is I'm actually a parts mechanic. I guess somehow I just didn't have the courage to tell you this."

BC blinked, then turned to face the young man. "So what exactly are you doing here?"

"That's a really funny question actually," he laughed awkwardly, "You see, I sorta got suckered into doing some really stupid thing. I sorta said I would steal a Vanguard. Hah! I guess I didn't want you to think—"

"Our data must be wrong," BC cut in, looking down at the younger man, "Cause I always thought that men were a proud race. But who would've ever thought they were such pathetic beings."

Hibiki gasped, finally looking at the woman.

"No matter what the reason aren't you here because of your pride. Or is it that you got yourself because of your need to provide proof of your existence. Male or female it doesn't matter now," She scoffed, her voice steadily boiling with anger, "In situations like this what it really comes down to the fact that we are human beings who breathe the same oxygen. While there are people around you desperately trying to overcome this crisis are you just going to crawl up like a helpless baby and wait for the end? What deficiencies are you trying to make up for?

"What do you think you can hide at a time like this? No matter how much of a loser you or how uncool you are if you cower at every obstacle nothing will ever change. And without change your race will shrivel up and die. Do understand that?"

Hibiki clenched his shaking hands, fear wading through his bloodstream. Gasping from holding his breath to long, he cried, "I don't know. I don't know what to do."

Fear overcame his system, driving him to his knees. His entire body shook and he whimpered quietly to himself. Despite driving him to this, BC did nothing for the young man. Sighing as she walked pass him, she admitted her mistake. "I guess I didn't need to say all that. Let's get moving."

"Yes, mam," Her aid replied as she turned to follow her superior, "But what about…"

"Don't worry," BC assured her, "This kid has no where to go."

Turning to Setsuna she asked, "You coming? Or you gonna stay here with him?"

Setsuna stood over Hibiki's shoulder, Haro sitting idly in his arms, studying his young new friend. Had he not once been just like Hibiki, afraid and alone in his homeland of Krugis, forced to either kill his fellow villagers or die? Had he not been on his knees, hands shaking as he clutched his rifle while he gazed up at O Gundam?

And it was not just him who'd been like this. Saji, Lockon, Sumeragi, and many other members of Celestial Being had reached the middle line, the line between kill or be killed. And they all crossed it.

"Fight."

Hibiki stopped whimpering. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder at Setsuna.

"Wha-what?"

"Fight," Was all he said before he stepped past him and made his way down the hall to the platform.

"Wait a minute!" His guard shouted, raising her laser-ring menacingly. "I'll shoot!"

He kept walking. The guard turned to Buzam. She nodded once and said, "Do it."

And the guard did it. Squeezing her hand she let loose a red bolt of light from her ring, a light that burned towards Setsuna's back. But when it was just a foot away, he dropped Haro, turned around and sidestepped the light, all while bringing his bound hands up. The light exploded across his cuffs and melted them instantaneously. Charred black, they fell to the floor at his feet.

He stared at the young girl, his eyes no longer a calm shade of red. They had changed, changed in such an extraordinary way. They were golden, not just plain golden, but a spectrum of gold streaks moving to the center of his eye.

"If you are as cold-blooded as your captain, then you will not miss next time."

And then he was gone, Haro with him, disappearing into one of the holes.

"Should we…" Was all the guard could muster, still shaken by those eyes.

"I don't think we could," BC muttered pessimistically, "Lets go back to the bridge."

"Wait!"

The voice came from the small young man at their feet. For a moment they had forgotten him.

"Take these things off of me."

BC stared at him, then smiled. "Why?"

"Cause I want to fight," He nearly shouted, courage and confidence emanating from his throat, "I want to fight. I want to fight to prove my existence."

He was on his feet now.

"I know I'm pathetic, I know I'm a loser, I know I'm uncool. But, like you said, if we don't change we'll die. And I'm not ready for that yet!"

"Is it just a man's nature to be defiant?"

"So what if it is?" He responded.

She stared into his eyes for a moment, and for a moment she thought she saw gold. She pulled a small device from her belt and with a flick of a switch the cuffs around Hibiki's wrist clattered against the floor.

"You won't regret this." And then he was gone, running into the hole Setsuna had disappeared into.

BC smiled one more time, nodded to her aid, and began walking towards the bridge.

"I don't think I will."

-

"Wow! What's this thing?" Bart asked at he stared at the platform that sat above the garden.

"The bridge has been extended all the way out to there," The Captain answered. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, "How's it going over there? Can you get it to work?"

"Hmm…" Tieria hummed as his fingers ran over one of the control stations while he stared intensely at the monitor before him. "It seems when the ships fused the Paeksis took full control of the main systems of both ships. With your ship acting as the main hub for them the Paeksis needed to recalibrate it to align it with the Ikazuchi's. Basically, right now it's rebooting to deal with all those changes. It will take some time to get it all up and running again, however…"

He looked at Bart, both eyes brimming with ideas. "Bart, go to the end of the platform!"

"Umm, okay." Bart did as he was told, albeit rather cautiously.

"Hurry it up!" The Captain shouted.

"Hey! Don't rush me!" He shouted back as he reached the end of the walkway. In the center was what looked like a green puddle of jello.

"What the hell is this think?" He muttered to himself.

"What was that?" The Captain asked impatiently. "You saying you don't know how to work it?"

"Its not that. You…" Quickly, he formulated the simplest lie he could come up with. "This thing is a secret weapon of our military. Now, lets see…"

Crouching, he reached out with his foot to tap the green jello, and, in a flash of light, it ate him.

"My goodness!" The Captain exclaimed at the mind-boggling reaction. "That's some sort of secret weapon. Did you know that would happen?"

"I had a theory," Tieria replied as he hacked into the comm system.

-

"What the hell is going on?" Bart shouted, now floating naked in a translucent green crystal. Through it he could see the cube-types and Dreads flying around him, gun's blazing.

Four cube-types stopped right in front of him and unleashed a volley of plasma fire. Screaming Bart pushed away from the battle and, in the process, actually moved the ship.

"Bart!"

"Huh? Tieria is that you?"

Tieria's face flashed in front of the helmsmen within a small cube. "I think that circle you stepped into is where the Paeksis moved the ship's main control system."

"So what? Does that mean I'm…" He couldn't finish, part of his mind stopping him in order to keep his sanity.

"All things considered, you're the ship."

"Huh?" Was all he could say before swimming to the left to dodge another barrage of plasma fire.

-

At that same moment Duelo had just reached the sickbay, cradling his guard in his arms. Clearing a bed of clutter with his elbow he laid the young girl down and went to one of the monitors. After pressing a few buttons, he sighed.

"Looks like nothing seems to be working," he said, rolling up his sleeves and flexing his hands, "Guess I'll have to do this the my way."

"Umm…" His other guard muttered as she pulled out her comm device, "Paiway! Are you there?"

"Shut up! No one else is allowed to get hurt!"

-

Screaming and cursing, Hibiki rolled out of one of the holes in the platform's wall. Rising from the dust and shattered crystals, he found himself only feet away from the feet of a mobile suit. Gazing up he's eyes ran over the thin white legs, the massive blue torso, gallant head that sported a large V over the eyes and the red gem that glowed above them. What captivated him the most was that to the sides of the head hung two gigantic metallic blue and white wings, each emanating what only can described as green snow.

"You came," Setsuna's voice echoed throughout the platform. Bewildered, Hibiki glanced from side to side, but could not find the Gundam Meister. "Up here."

Looking straight up (way up) he found the older boy stand on the very top of the mobile suit's right wing, data pad in hand and Haro at his side.

"Get to your Vanguard. You'll need to head out first. I have to run a system check before I move out." He stated, hopping down from the wing onto the cockpit door that slid out to catch him.

"Hehe…right," Hibiki giggled nervously as he scampered away. After looking around for a while he found his Vanguard lying defeated on its back, crystal nearly enveloping the entire machine. Running his hand over the katakana he'd inscribed into its chest, he muttered with awe, "Looks like you changed a bit partner, but I guess you're still you. That just means I'll have to change too!"

Leaping into the newly designed cockpit, Hibiki stared at the controls. "I can't screw up this time. I may not know how to use this thing, but I'll make if move with my mind!"

With that said the monitor booted up and the Vanguard's eyes flared to life. Grasping the control sticks and focusing his mind, Hibiki steadily brought the machine to its feet, dusting of the excess crystal in the process. Planting it atop the launch pad, he muttered one final prayer to Lord Grandpa before pushing forward with either control stick. The launch pad flared to life and flung him through the hangar doors at a brain melting speed.

He rolled through the blackness of space, unable to maintain an upright position (again, no up in space). The attackers were on him in seconds, unloading round after round into his bronze armor.

"AHAHHH! Get the hell away from me! Leave me alone!"

-

"How's he doing?" Setsuna asked Tieria via the comm channel.

"Lightning Fist!" Hibiki shouted, fruitlessly punching the space before him.

"Fine." Tieria lied as he watched the attackers unload a barrage into the Vanguard's head. "How's 00?"

"Life support is fine. Weapons systems are all green."

"Alright! Let's try this!" Hibiki shouted, drawing a long green sword from its scabbard. Spinning it around his wrist he succeeded in shredding two of the cube-types into scrap metal.

"Impressive," Tieria muttered, "How's the Twin-Drive system?"

"Hovering at 70%. Seems like the Paeksis completely repaired O Gundam's drive."

"Good. Better not use Trans-Am till we're sure it's stabilized."

"Roger. Haro, take control of the 0-Raiser," Setsuna said as he pushed the Gundam forward, the twin-drives swiveling around and propelling him out the hangar doors. "Setsuan F. Seiei. Eliminating the target!"

-

Finally in complete control of the Vanguard, Hibiki cut through two more cube types and flew forward to the main ship. However, the aliens adapted quickly to their new foe and two dozens poured from the ships mouth. Roaring a battle cry, the young cut into the mass of foes, metal and fire dancing around him. Blinded by smoke, fire, and fury Hibiki barely noticed the eight octopus arms that had rapped around his torso, pulling him away from the main group.

"Dammit! Let go of me!" He shouted, effortlessly struggling against his captors. The three Dreads, on the other hand, won many kills as they outmaneuvered the pack.

"I…won't lose to you!" He growled, twisting his machine's arms to grab a pair of octopus arms. With a flash, a sword erupted through the center of them, exploding a second later. Twisting the control sticks to one side, Hibiki spun the Vanguard in place. Try as they might the attackers could not pin him down and each flew off into the darkness.

"Heh, I think I'm getting the hang of this," he laughed, but stopped when he saw the ship. Six cubes rocketed past the Dread's line of defense, weapons burning with light.

"You idiots!" He shouted at the pilots, "You let hem get past you!"

"A little busy here!" Meia barked back, whirling her Dread around to aid the ship but faced another pack of cubes.

"Blast it all!" Hibiki did the same, and met the same fate.

The light burning from two of the cube-type eyes reached their peak, and just before they released them, they exploded. Well, they didn't just simply explode. Twin bolts of purple light flared out of the hangar and detonated on the attackers.

Not a second later 00 Gundam dove out of the hangar, two GN Sword II shining in its hands. The remaining four attackers moved to intercept it but it's superior speed allowed to gracefully slip behind each one and cut them clean in half. For a moment it just floated there, basking in its GN particles. Inside Setsuna counted the remained cube-types. 29. Pushing forward, two green rings flared off of 00's wings, jettisoning it into the heart of the battle.

-

"Beautiful," Was all Jura could say, eyes sparkling at the elegance and brilliance Setsuna displayed as he cut down foe after foe.

"Amazing! Aliens are just amazing!" Dita squealed with joy, taking a moment to photograph Setsuna's massacre.

"You two stay focused!" Meia barked, boiling with rage that those two men had saved her pilots. Though, she did silently admit that their machines were impressive, not the pilots.

"Don't worry, Leader. The Aliens will protect us!" And just as the words left Dita's mouth Setsuna appeared behind a cube-type that had been chasing her and kicked it out his way before gunning it down with his GN's Swords' Rifle mode. "See!"

-

"Unbelievable," Hibiki muttered to himself as destroyed a group of attackers in a series of slashes. Try as he might, he could not reach the level of destructive serenity that Setsuna displayed.

"Hibiki!" Setsuna shouted as he moved to the Vanguard's side.

"Ye-Yes!"

"I'm going to cut us a path to their main ship. Once its clear head directly for it; I'll be right behind you. Understand?"

"Yah, I got it."

Together each of them moved the line forward, rending and mutilating their foes in the process. When they were only a matter of meters away from the enemy vessel, Setsuna stopped and swiveled 00's wings around so that the Vulcan cannons within faced forward. A pink-hued beam of light erupted from their tips, clearing away all of the cube-types before him. It continued on, rippling over the surface of the enemy ship and melting clean into its center.

"Now!"

Hibiki bolted past him, his blade shining with the desire to decimate its foe. And not far behind him was a blue Dread.

"Dita, pull back." Meia ordered, still a little dumbstruck at 00's power.

"There's nothing to worry about," Dita assured the Amazonian, "Mister Aliens are going to get us out of this somehow. I'm absolutely positive!"

"Dita!"

"I'm going for it!" Hibiki shouted only ten meters away from the ship. "No ones going to stop me now!"

Just as he said that five attackers were right on his tail, metallic claws narrowly missing the Vanguard's feet. Setsuna didn't let them get any farther. The first two he shot down and the third he pierced through the eye. However, the remaining two were able to latch onto the Vanguard, but Hibiki would not stop.

"Just a little bit more. Just a little bit farther." He muttered, dragging the machines with him.

"Setsuna!" Tieria shouted over the intercom, "I'm getting some strange readings from inside that thing."

"Just a little more. I can reach it. Just a little more." He reached out with the Vanguard's free arm, his arm. Just a little bit farther and he would've been he would've been through the ship's opening.

But it wouldn't have that.

Three molten orange and black prongs materialized from the hole, trapping the Vanguard and it's baggage in between them. They almost caught Setsuna, but they only pushed him back when he summoned a green GN Shield to protect himself. He raised his GN Swords to shoot the prongs.

He didn't get any farther than that when they burned bright red. A ripple of lightning danced down them from the ships. When they hit Hibiki the machines attached to him exploded. And so did he. To make matters worse Dita had been right next to him, probably trying to help him.

-

With the explosion echoing in her ear, Magno lowered her gaze from the monitor. Clutching her cane in a death grip, she resolved to obey her duties.

"Looks like our miracle didn't happen. Tell all crew members to begin evacuating."

"Wait!" Tieria commanded, "I'm picking something up."

Zooming in on the explosion, he displayed for all to see, a hand reaching through the prongs.

-

The "hand" grasped two of the prongs easily, burning hot orange with the flames around it. With a squeeze they broke, freeing the blazing metal giant from its cage. It grew like a newborn child, but instead of months it grew in seconds. I t was just as big as 00, in all aspects, and reflected the same gallantry the Vanguard did, but in a different way. Like a knight in ancient times its entire body was layered in plate armor, but rather than the desert bronze of the Vanguard it was a deep ocean blue. Most distinctively were the giant emerald wings that floated just a few meters from its shoulders.

Oh, almost forgot. It looked pissed

And the attackers though so too, quickly sealing off all openings. Except for one.

The mecha shrugged off the remaining cube-types, bolting for Setsuna's opening. Its powerful gauntlets tore the metallic membrane open like it was paper and jammed its wings into the hole. A bright light pulsed from within them and released a bolt of energy into the nucleus of the ship.

It grew like a balloon with too much air and then popped as a green needle punctured clean through to the darkness beyond. The resulting shockwave shredded the remaining the cube-types and even knocked back the Dreads. Meia, just barely over the shock of seeing 00's destructive power, stared wide-eyed at her savior. Setsuna on the other hand was just fine, a small grin forming on his ordinarily blank face.

_

'I made it,' Hibiki laughed inside his head as exhaustion overwhelmed his body. However, when he finally had the strength to open his eyes fear rippled across his body.

Underneath the palm of his hand were the soft smooth fingers of a young female pirate. And then he realized it. He was sharing a seat with the same girl who had chased him through the Ikazuchi, the girl who had scared him half to death.

She rolled awake, leaning back to rest on Hibiki's chest.

"What the hell is going on here?"

"I just knew Mr. Alien would protect us somehow," The gentle words fell out of her cute pink lips. Though Hibiki thought differently.

Gulping, Hibiki shouted into the great beyond, "Is this the proof of my existence?"

-

"Well, this is an interesting predicament," Tieria declared hoarsely. As soon as Setsuna and Hibiki had returned to the hangar all the men were rounded up, cuffed up, and locked up. He didn't even get a glass of water. Hibiki, Duelo, and Bart were throne in one of the old storage rooms in the men's section of the ship. Tieria and Setsuna, on the other hand, were given a more…deluxe treatment.

"You're the one who decided to tell them everything," Setsuna's voice echoed from the opposite side of the room.

"Quiet in there!" One of the Setsuna's twin guards commanded. Each eyed their prisoner with suspicion and gripped their laser spears tightly.

A bleak grey light shone down upon the two Gundam Meisters in their respective cells. A dozen other cells lined the walls of the jail, glowing blue energy bars impeding any escape. This was not enough to satisfy the women's fear.

Both the Meisters' ankles and wrists were bound to their chairs with electric handcuffs. That didn't matter to them. They could be bound with licorice for all they cared. To them, this was no different than when they were pinned down in the Taklamakan Desert for over a day. Just another battle they'd have to wait out.

'If I hadn't said anything they would've killed you.' Tieria thought to himself.

'They aren't that foolish. They need us to survive out here and they know it.' Setsuna pushed his thoughts into his friend's head.

'Is that why that blue-haired girl looked like she wanted to put a laser through your head?' Tieria retorted. 'Doesn't matter now. Not like they can stop us. They don't know enough.'

'No.' Setsuna thought quietly. Opening his eyes, streams of golden light dancing across a crimson background. 'They don't know anything.'

'Did you know that that would happen? The fusion of a Dread and Vanguard.'

'I knew that the Paeksis would do what it had to do to survive.'

'That's another way of saying you didn't know,' Tieria pointed out. 'Maybe we don't know anything.'

'Maybe.'


	5. Elevator Music

**Okay, first of I'm very sorry for being so late with an updates. Stuff seemed to keep piling on at home and I barely had time to try writing, but here you go.**

**I do not own Gundam 00 or Vandread.**

* * *

Tieria wiggled around in his seat, cuffs rattling rather loudly. Across from him Setsuna raised an eyebrow, but couldn't bring himself to ask why his friend was so fidgety. Actually, he found it kind of amusing.

"Setsuna?" Tieria called to him abruptly, ceasing the annoying racket at the same time.

"Yes?'"

"Do you know where our guards went?"

"Their Commander ordered them to prepare for a scrub down. Not sure why though."

"Oh," Was all the effeminate young (?) man said before resuming his fidgeting.

"Why are…?"

"Bathroom," Tieria answered.

"I see. You should've gone before we got here," Setsuna pointed out, though he refused to mention he also needed to use the John.

"I didn't think they would lock us up like this for so long. And they would've have chained us up like this if someone hadn't gone and broken his cuffs!"

Setsuna shut himself off from the whiny little girl and leaned his head back. Slowly, he stretched himself through the bars and walls that made up his prison. Standing in the hall, he took a moment to get his bearings. When he was ready he made his way to the Paeksis chamber, which was abuzz with voices. Every which way he looked there was an engineer shouted numbers into headsets as they leaned over their laptops and datapads. From what he could tell they were measuring and calculating the extent to which the Paeksis had engulfed itself into the ship. Glad to see that the massive blue sun that shone above them emanating a steady stream of light, he left the women to their work.

As he wandered the Ikazuchi all he could fine were technicians looting supplies and transporting to their half of the ship. Every so often he found one of them taking apart a wall panel, always gasping when they realized the walls were filled with Paeksis crystal and the wires within absolutely useless.

After a while he decided to leave for the women's half, but not before making one last stop.

If he were there physically the light from the men's cargo bay would have blinded him. Much to his surprise the pirates were busy with laser-saws, drills, droids, and other tools refurnishing the massive room. New platforms had been added, two of which were occupied by the grey Dread and red Dread. Nowhere could he find the blue one and its bubbly pilot. So, he decided to ask.

Out of the twenty or so minds he read, three gave him the answer.

'God I wish Ms. Gasco was here! I never understood how she could organize all these new recruits.'

'Wonder when those two are going to be back. We need that Dread to finish this platform.'

'Dita is so lucky! Can't believe she got to ditch and salvage mission. Dread pilots are always favored over the rest of us.'

"Oh my god! This is so amazing!" Dita exclaimed, barely able to contain her bubbly joy as she flickered her camera with one hand and piloted her Dread with the other. "Gasp! It's an Atopski-type UFO! Did you see that Ms. Gasco?"

In the seat behind her Gasco sighed so deeply she could've raised, killed, and raised the dead again. The first thing she'd probably say to them is, "Its Gascogne!!!"

Before leaving Setsuna took a moment to inspect the Gundams. Apparently the women hadn't taken the time to try and crack the locks on either 00 or the GN Arms. Not like they could anyway. The only way to pilot them would be to have one's biometrics programmed into the systems, and of course only the Gundam Meisters could authorize that.

00 shined like the angelic titan it was. Century old battle scars had been cleansed from its body by the Paeksis, leaving its skin as smooth as marble. Flexing his non-existent hands, Setsuna recalled the sensation he'd felt while piloting the night before. It had been too long since he'd last danced with his old friend. As much as battle disgusted him he could not help but enjoy cutting down his faceless robotic foe. Better they fell by his blade then they live on to kill others

Slipping into the GN-Arms Setsuna moved to the cargo hold of the battle cruiser and checked on Seravee Gundam. Even in the shadows Setsuna could make out the behemoth of a mobile suit. Just like 00, the Paeksis had cleansed Seravee of all impurities. Its entire form was bulky with metal muscle and filled the chamber with its commanding presence. Twin GN Cannons sat just above its kneecaps and another pair on its shoulders. Its hands, the only "small" part of the machine, held the GN Bazooka IIs, a pair of Vulcan cannons that could have easily eliminated the attackers from the night before.

Running his hand over the giant's smooth armor, Setsuna could feel its regret in not being able to take part in the battle. While the Paeksis had repaired the general appearance of the machine it had failed to completely fix the programming. Its operating system was riddled with incomplete algorithms that caused the GN Drive to overload whenever they started it up. Hopefully now that 00 was operational they could use it to reboot Seravee's system. 'Don't worry. You'll have your chance.' He assured the machine before leaving the makeshift hangar.

Wandering the ship with no real destination he passed through the women's bridge, residential quarters, Dread Platform, and weapon's hold, or Registry as they called it. The former two were completely swallowed up by the Paeksis, forcing the original occupants to relocate to the men's section. Of the dozens that lugged all their belongings onto makeshift elevators Setsuna decided to follow a familiar blonde. Remembering his first encounter with the Dread pilots he recalled her name as Jura.

"Hurry up, Barnette!" The blonde shouted to her scantily clad friend.

"I'm going as fast as I can. Do you really need all these clothes?" Barnette asked, one arm carrying a large duffel bag and rifle bag while the other hidden underneath nearly a dozen garment bags.

"Are you kidding? You know I can't live without my babies!" Jura said, herself juggling half a dozen purses that overflowed with perfume bottles.

They hopped onto one of the makeshift elevators just before it passed their level, which just so happened to be where Paiway was sitting. Setsuna, having nowhere else to go, joined them. He took a seat beside the young nurse, who just so happened to be jotting down they wonderful events that plagued her happy little family.

"If you have so much time on your hands why don't you help out?" Barnette complained.

"I'm busy!" She barked back as she glanced at the older women. Noting their large load she slipped on her frog-hand puppet (yes you read me right!) and threw a frog-voice into it's little mouth.

"Barnette and Jura seem to have a lot of stuff," And back to her voice, "We're lucky cause our rooms are okay. Ribbit."

"She's pushing my buttons," Jura muttered.

Barnette noticed something her friend missed. "Hey, what's with the rope?"

Paiway tugged at the rope that extended down from the world above and wrapped around her waist.

"Oh, this? Well, this is only a temporary elevator. So if it stops you two are stuck here."

Just as the words left her mouth she began to float a few feet above her seat. On instinct Setsuna grabbed a hold of the rope. Together the nurse and solder left the Dread pilots in the darkness of the elevator shaft, where they cried for help.

Once they passed back into the Taraak half Setsuna stepped off the platform and headed for the bridge. The three operators sat idly by and probably wouldn't have noticed him if he was really there. He walked along the platform that extended above the garden and gazed into the darkness before him.

'The stars are wrong,' He thought quietly as he studied the constellations.

He looked away. He looked at the pond below him. A fish jumped in and out of the cool water. The stars were wrong.

He looked back into the void, eyes dancing around in his head. Two blue stars caught his attention.

If his assumption was correct, and it usually was, the Atlas colony once hovered between those two stars. A few stars away were where the denizens of Tartarus used to mine metal and build warships. All the good that did them. They had dominion over an entire solar system and now, well, they didn't.

To his left Setsuna spotted a circle of stars that glowed tomato red. Blood Pearls. Dead planets that was once pristine for mounting anti-orbital cannons on. Because these planets were generally covered in oceans of molten lava they are super heated. All someone would have to do is attach geothermic generators to the cannons and they would have the perfect line of defense.

Least, until a few months ago. The ring of stars Setsuna was staring at was once the location of the Atlas colony, the same colony whose death had forced him out of cryosleep.

All this weighed down on Setsuna as he made his way back to his body. From what he understood about the constellations he'd they were probably one of the galaxies that bordered to the one housing Taraak and Mejare, most likely the Shoshone System. Being no mathematician he couldn't even comprehend how far long it would take for the ship to get back home. Of course he could just dump all the info on Tieria. He liked numbers.

As Setsuna phased through wall-to-wall he was surprised to have eight pirates dressed in anti-bacterial suits run right through him. If he could feel anything he'd probably be nauseous from having at least one person run through his stomach. Whirling around to face their backs, he watched them split into two groups, one heading to where the Taraak cell was and the other towards his cell. For a moment he just stood their, staring at the empty hall. Then he ran.

Slamming back into his body with a jolt he flung himself forward in his seat. Pain spiked along his arms and legs from trying to move a bolted down chair. Gasping for breath (out of body experiences always sent one's body into overdrive) he shouted to a wide-eyed Tieria.

"I think I figured out what 'scrub down' means!"

Tieria raised one eyebrow. "OBE?"

Setsuna nodded, sweat raining from his charcoal hair.

"So, what does scrub down mean?"

* * *

"Hey! What are yo—"

A stream of ice-cold water pelted Hibiki in the face, literally drowning out his words. The young man stumbled backwards alongside Bart, who cried like a whee little lassy. However the pirates didn't let up, dowsing each of the men with the full force of their water hoses. Setsuna, Tieria, and Duelo stood there calmly, protecting their packages from shrinkage.

"I took a look at the constellations earlier," Setsuna said to Tieria over the sound of the hoses. "Looks like we're in the Shoshone System, a couple stars from Atlas and Tartarus."

"Interesting," Tieria said, his brow heavy with concentration. "By my calculations it should take us 270 days to get back to Mejare and Taraak."

"How can you be so sure?" Duelo asked from in between the two Meisters. "You two seem to know a lot about what's going on around here."

"Celestial Being's database houses dozens of petabytes of data detailing the location and history of every colony ship that left Earth," Tieria explained. "Through our many contacts in each colony we have been able to catalogue even more data on the systems surrounding them. In the process we have developed star maps and routes that connect each colony together."

"So, do you have data on the machines that attacked us?"

Hibiki decided to perk up his ears. He had been wondering why Setsuna had been so come when he cut down his foes.

"They have appeared in our records before, however, each time our contacts ended up dead. Very rarely did one put up a decent fight."

"So that explains how you fought them off," Hibiki said to Setsuna. "You knew how they would fight! You knew they could have blown me up!"

"Not exactly," Setsuna responded without any sympathy, "All are data pertained on what _not_ to do when fighting those machines. No one has ever lasted long enough to give us any data on how to fight back. We're probably the first to ever survive an encounter with them."

"I'd also like to ask you about that," Duelo stated, "If all your spies that contacted these aliens died, does that mean they're targeting your organization?"

"That's one theory," Tieria lied. Better they believe we know nothing, he thought. "What we actually said was that every one of our members who fought those aliens died. The whole truth is that the colonies they were stationed at were also wiped out."

All but the sound of rushing water disappeared with those words for a minute. Right after the water shut off Bart said the most obvious thing.

"We got to get the hell out of here!"

"Easier said than done. Its amazing this ship has held itself together for so long." Tieria stated as he pulled a towel from a stick one of the guards extended to him.

"By the time we get back home they'll probably have eaten us!" Hibiki's voice boiled with both fear and disgust.

"If they wanted to eat use they would've already," Setsuna replied, shaking his wet head. But under his breath he muttered, "Unless they wanted to clean us first."

After drying off and changing into clean clothes the men were escorted back to their cells. Surprisingly, Tieria and Setsuna were allowed to come along with the Taraak men. They remained silent all the way. Their guards flicked off the energy bars of their cell and shoved them in with little love.

Filled with dusty boxes and shelves the cell was not the most hospitable part of the universe. Hibiki and Setsuna took spots under a shelf that Tieria laid down on while Bart sat on a box on the left side and Duelo on the right.

"Bart Garcus." Setsuna addressed him frankly. "How did you get stuck on this ship?"

Fear and embarrassment ravaged the helmsman's face. With a high-pitched voice he said, "You see, about that…"

And so began Bart Garcus's epic battle to reclaim the ship from those dastardly, despicable pirates. While he was on his way to the bridge a squad of pirates appeared right around the corner. Cut off from the rest of the ship the young soldier and his squad refused to give up even an inch to the women.

"One by one my brothers in arms fell, but I knew I could not give up until I reclaimed the ship!" Bart declared, punching a fist into the air. "And now fate has provided me with four comrades. What do you say guys? If we join forces…"

Hibiki ignored the blond's speech about how they could make the women bow before them and become the heroes of Tarakk.

'Why'd this have to happen to me?' The little man thought to himself. 'I'm back just where I started. I though I'd changed my life!

'But still…What the hell—'

"—Happened back there?" Bart finished for him, leaning rather closely to Hibiki's face. "Who made that Vanguard and how did it combine with the Mejarian fighter?"

"How the hell should I know?" Hibiki barked back, fangs bared, "And forget about that! Do you think I'm going to forgive you for socking me before? They nearly locked me away!"

"Now, now. I was only acting in your best interests. Better they lock you up then force you onto the battlefield."

"You just don't know when to shut up do you?"

Duelo slipped himself into the conversation before Tieria could. "He's nervous. He's trying to distract himself through conversation. Just forgive him."

"Wow! You really are a elite!" Bart exclaimed. For a brief moment Setsuna sensed his fellow captive's ambitious thoughts. They weren't pleasant.

"You know, with my superior speaking ability, Setsuna's combat skills, Tieria's talent as a hacker, and Duelo's brain," he didn't even glance at Hibiki, "we can easily take control of the ship. I bet by week's end, we'll have those woman ea—"

"What are you all chatting about?" A sly voice asked through the bars. Bart jumped around to find the Commander looking down upon him.

"Oh, well, you see, we were just joking around." Quickly the lies stuttered out of his mouth.

"Oh, really? I'd to hear them sometime," Seriousness slipped onto her face rather elegantly as she turned of the cell bars. "We need you at the bridge."

"Y-yes, of course!" Bart quickly leapt to his feet and shuffled out of the room. "See you fellas!"

"Don't let them eat you!" Hibiki shouted after him.

Setsuna started at his young friend. "I should probably explain to you about women."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they—"

"Like to nimble on your bones while your still alive," Tieria cut in, rewarding himself with a smile from Duelo, "and they love young men the most. You should probably keep quiet from now on."

And so he did.

* * *

"This place looks more like a giant factory than a spaceship to me," Gasconge stated to the Captain via the video feed from her datapad to the ship. In the background Dita was sliding through space taking photos of the crippled alien ship.

"Wow! This is amazing!"

"Well, anything substantial?" the Captain asked as she gazed dully at the young girl.

"We're searching the database but it's pretty huge."

"Hey! Ms. Gasco! Can I go look around?" Dita asked gleefully.

Gascogne grimaced. "Absolutely not! We've got worked to do."

To emphasize her point she flicked her young assistant in the head and sent her flying through the ship.

"Ahhhh! I can't stop! Someone help me?"

The Captain had to chuckle at that. Suddenly, she got a incoming call from BC. "Huh? What is it, BC?"

"I brought our navigator here."

"I'll be right there," She turned to Gascogne. "Good luck you two. Keep safe."

"Roger."

The elderly woman then disconnected the video feeds and hit a switch on her armrest. Her captain's chair swiveled around in place and slid along a conveyer belt through a hidden entrance in her room to the bridge of the ship. There her stern second-in-command and the cowardly Bart Garcus greeted her.

"H-Hello there. I heard you were in the need of my assistance." The young man looked like he was ready to pee his pants. Not that the powerful Pirate Captain Magno could blame him.

"Yes. That thing," She stated, pointing with her fan towards green Paeksis pool that sat at the end of the bridge. "We haven't been able to operate it. So tell us how you did it."

The young man's demeanor went from shock to fear to confident in a matter of seconds. Tugging at his cuffs he pointed out that under the circumstances it was obvious that he should help. Reluctantly, BC set him free.

"Now try and listen closely," He said quite arrogantly as he made his way to the walkway. "This is a male ship. So only males can operate it. So I'd say you are very fortunate for all of you that you happened to find me. I guess you could say that I'm an indispensible—Huh?"

As he said this the Paeksis pool shined brightly and, with a flash of light, sucked him down into the navigation chamber.

Laying her head in her hands the Captain said, "I really don't understand this system at all."

Barely over the shock of being stripped of his clothes and hooked up to a battleship, Bart tried to make since of the images before him. The Paeksis had deemed it necessary to show him live video feed of the alien wreckage. Why? Well, that's what he wanted to know.

When he waved to his hand to dismiss the images, he felt the Paeksis quiver as if it was scared. Then, without warning, the ship turned away from the wreckage and began flying off at a blinding speed into the dark abyss.

"What is going on?" The Captain barked.

"This system just booted up!" Belvedere stated as she leaned over her consul, quickly analyzing the data on it.

"Checking target destination," Amarone began, but was cut off by her own scream when the ship shook violently.

"What the hell did you do?" The Captain's face appeared to Bart via video feed.

"Huh? Just hold on a minute!" He pleaded right before the ship shook violently again. 'What trouble did I get into this time?' he thought.

Back at the wreckage Gascogne and Dita had just finished gathering all the data from the enemy ship.

"All right. We are all down over here," She said over her datapad to the Captain but no one responded. "Captain? You there, ma'am?"

* * *

Back on the suicidal ship….

"Ms. Gasco? Please respond, Ms Gasco. Dita, please respond." Ezra pleased into her static filled computer terminal. Sweat poured down her face and her breath grew ragged as the stressed piled on. The lack of air conditioning and sleep had drained her body. Now, with two of her friends missing, her heart began to ache.

"Release the markers!" Buzam ordered, giving Ezra a worried glance. Good thing she did because if not she wouldn't have seen her faint, crying, "Ms. Gasco…"

"Ezra!" She was at her side in a second, gently lifting her subordinate up. Checking her pulse, she found her alive but weak, drained. Her face was bright red and whole body burning up from fever.

Into her headset Buzam shouted, "Someone prepare a bed in sickbay and get me a gurney! On the double!"

* * *

Hibiki flung his head into the air and shouted into the green world that surrounded him.

"Who the hell are you? What are you trying to get me to do? And what is that huge robot anyway? Is it all apart of your plan? What do you want from me? Ahhh!"

He screamed erratically as bolts of electricity ran through his body. Pain and light filled his vision. Suddenly, memories of life on the farm with grandpa poured into his mind. In each the old man was talking directly to him.

"Hibiki.

"I want you to go to the city Hibiki."

"Why?" He asked. He was caught up in his dream, seated in the entrance to their home, his grandfather standing in the doorway

"To truly know yourself, you need friends," He threw Hibiki a necklace with a keycard attached to it. "They are like mirrors. Without them, you are nothing.

"Go to the city and make friends. Then you will know yourself."

Light filled his vision, but not before he made out the image of a dark haired boy around his age standing behind his grandfather, eyes aglow.

"Grandpa…" He muttered as he awoke. To find Duello leaning rather close to him. Shoving the older man away he shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Above them Tieria groaned. "Why the hell do you have to be so loud? I was just getting some sleep."

"I was checking your temperature," Duello stated, completely ignoring his fellow bishonen.

A little embarrassed at his reaction, Hibiki quickly apologized to Tieria. "Sorry, I was just shocked." Then to the doctor, "I'm alright, Doc. I was just having a weird dream."

"Must have been pretty weird if you were mumbling in your sleep. Whose grandpa?"

"Grandpa's just Grandpa. He's nobody special. He's the one who raised me."

"Nobody special? Humph…" Tieria grunted as he rolled of his makeshift bed/desk onto the ground.

"Hey that's right. You said you knew Grandpa." Hibiki said, pointing to Setsuna, who was still sitting next to him.

"Peculiar," Duello said snidely, "I'd find it hard to believe that one of the first-generation would have any contact with the three of you."

Hibiki would have retorted if the Captain's scary second-in-command hadn't appeared in the hallway.

"You're names Duello, correct?" She asked, sweat shining off her forehead. "Its your turn to come with me. If you aren't to busy of course."

He nodded.

"Also, I'll need you too, Tieria."

The purple-haired bishonen glanced at Setsuna, who merely nodded in response. And with that, Setsuna and Hibiki were left alone.

"So…" Hibiki began, "I was wondering how you knew Grandpa. He isn't a member or Celestial-whatever, is he?"

Setsuna stared into the hallway, he face covered in shadows. "Tieria and I are orphans, and Celestial Being raised us. One of our guardians was a friend of your Grandfather and over the years we visited him. When he died we went to visit your Grandpa and tell him the news. It was then that we found out you were in the city."

"But how did you know I was on the ship?"

"I didn't until I saw you at the opening ceremony."

Hibiki's face grew bright red with embarrassment. "Oh, about that…"

"You have a good kick," Setsuna stated, a small smile appearing on his blank face.

Laughing, Hibiki asked, "You think? Thanks. I really wanted to kick Bart that time. That guy just makes me so mad."

"Hmmm," Setsuna hummed quietly. Though the young man seemed antisocial, Hibiki gained a strange sense of comfort from his presence. He was like a cat that watched over your home when you slept, occasionally purring to show its love.

Strangely, at this thought Setsuna began to take off his deep blue jacket and white jerkin. Underneath he wore a blue tank top over his thin but muscular chest.

"Its hot," he moaned, throwing back his hand and splashing sweat everywhere.

"Wonder if they'll ever turn on the air conditioning."

* * *

Down in the engineering bay the situation wasn't much different. The temperature had broken the eighties, leading to a bunch of sexually deprived, glasses wearing, spanking hot engineers stripping off their work jackets for tight, black sport's bras. Oh, and they were frustrated.

One of Parfet's underlings glared at her computer console. It was flashing an image of the pirate ship, Ikazuchi and Paeksis crystal, all which seemed quite unstable.

"The crystalline response is down 45%!"

"Temperatures up six degrees!" A fellow sexually deprived engineer stated.

"What's going on her, girls?" Parfet asked as she entered the room, stripping off her sweat covered jacket down to her tight, black sport's bra.

"I have no idea where to start." The first engineer moaned.

"Just do what you can," Parfet assured her assistant and turned to another one. "What about you? Any luck?"

The woman she was referring too was leaning over Pyoro. He was lying on his side with a fatigued look on his face, cables connected into his head and stomach.

"I don't know," The girl muttered.

Pyoro moaned loudly as he rolled from side to side, crying, "Sick…"

"Sick?" Parfet questioned. What the hell is going on?

The doors to the medical bay hissed open as BC led Duello, Tieria and two guards in. At the very end of the room (why they carried her all the way to the end, I do not know) was a young brown haired girl sitting at the side of Ezra, who lay sleeping on a bed.

"She's running a fever and it won't go down. Will you take a look at her?" BC asked, her voice serious with a hint of concern.

"That's curious," Duello stated, staring at the young girl. "I thought women's technology was quite advanced."

"Hmm," BC hummed at the young man's inquiry. "You really are one of the elite. Always probing for answers, the exact opposite of some other boys I know."

If Tieria cared about the response than he didn't show it.

"Very well. Approximately 90% of our ships systems are offline right now. That includes the medical ones. Is that enough for you, Doctor?"

He stared down at her, he expression unchanged. "I'll examine the patient."

As he and one of the guards went over to Ezra, Tieria stared at BC.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Aren't you just happy to be out of your cell?" She asked, her seductive eyes delving into his.

"Actually, no. I was just about to get some sleep when you showed up."

"I see. Well, then I won't waste your precious nap time." She headed over to one of the computer terminals, waving her hand to tell him to follow. "I was hoping you could take a look at the computers. You seem to have an understanding of this system."

Tieria nodded and let his fingers dance across the computer screen. Symbols and colors flashed that BC didn't recognize.

"Interesting," He muttered.

"What?"

"Your ship and the Ikazuchi operate on completely different systems. When the Paeksis fused them the systems began to compete for control. That's why so many different areas of the ship are offline."

"What can we do?"

"Recalibrate the entire ship so that the two systems are one. However, to do that we'd have to shut down everything. Weapons, navigation, life support."

"For how long?" BC sure as hell didn't want to turn off life support, but if it got the ship working normally again it might be worth it.

"On a ship this big? An hour probably."

"Great. We all will be dead in half that time," BC slapped her hands on her hips to show her annoyance. "Any other ideas?"

"Let me see."

At that very moment the lights flickered off along with the computer terminals.

"What the hell just happened?" BC shouted, glancing around the room at other shocked expressions.

As soon as the lights went out Duello had snatched a com-device from the brunette at Ezra's side, much to her objection.

"Engineering, I'm working on a patient. Please make power to the sick bay a priority."

"We've got enough trouble on our end," Parfet snarled back. "I wish I could help you but I can't read men's language."

"I could read it if I was there," Duello said as he looked at BC.

She tilted her head at this and said, "Go ahead."

"There's nothing I can do from here," Tieria said, waving his hands in disgust at the computer terminal, "I'm better off down with him."

"Alright," Then to the guards, "You two. Go with them. I have other business to attend to."

* * *

Back at the wreckage Dita scanned the empty space before her via a metal ball with a scope on it. It beeped as it picked up the signals to multiple red markers.

"Any luck?" Gascogne asked from deeper within the ship.

"Just markers."

"Alright. Lets pack up and get going. Nothing else we can do from here."

But just as they began to float out to the Dread, three prongs shot from the heart of the ship towards the two of them.

* * *

Matters were not much better at the pirate ship. The bridge crew had just realized they were headed straight into a nebula.

"Its just one problem after another," was all the Captain could say. Sweat dripped off her forehead, which was already wet from an ice pack. Much use it did, with a fan already run not a foot away and a paper one in her limp hand.

"This is Meia!" And she appeared on the viewing screen in all her Amazonian-ness. "The Dread platform is down. I won't be able to retrieve Dita and Gascogne."

"We're going into that!" Bart shouted as he finally realized that the Nebula was full of giant chucks of ice. And the shields were down. "Dammit! Can someone please raise the shields?"

* * *

Duello and Tieria stepped off the elevator quietly, slipping into the room with silent grace and beauty. For a moment the engineers were so distracted by their work that they hardly noticed. Kind of insulting if you think about it.

They were finally noticed when they walked straight towards Parfet, much to the shock of multiple other woman who wailed "MEN!"

Buy the head engineer was all business as she ushered the men forward to where she was working on Pyoro, who was shaking like a bobble head.

"I'm trying to check the status of the Paeksis but I can't read the data."

"It's a hi-type number six," Duello explained. "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I don't really understand it, but this guy's and the Paeksis's wavelengths are linked. I though he'd make a good sensor but I can't read the display."

"They were probably linked like the ships were when the Paeksis opened that wormhole. Looks like the Paeksis must have also adopted the Ikazuchi's language filters." Tieria said as he went over to one of the computer screens. "Do you mind if I use this?"

"If you think you can get anything done with it, sure. What exactly are you thinking?"

Tieria immediately pulled up a schematic of the ship and distinguishing which sections were governed by the men's system or the women's. All in all, they were even. Like he had mentioned before, recalibration was suicidal.

"Plan B?" he asked himself in a voice so low only he heard it. "Plan B."

With that he fingers began to dance across the screen. Numbers, images, graphs flashed for mere moments as he scanned through them at a blinding speed. His fingers never stopped as he glanced at Duello.

"Can you read off the data on Pyoro, please?"

Duello stared dumbfounded at his fellow man for a moment, then turned to the little machine.

"It says that impurities are spreading throughout the main engine room. It appears to be a reaction to all the sudden changes."

"Originally this system was used to collect and tap into the energy from the crystals' growth, but I've never seen a reaction like this." She said with a downtrodden expression.

"Perhaps its due to the fusion of the two ship," Duello suggested.

"That seems like the most likely cause." Tieria said over his shoulder.

"Any ideas?" Parfet asked, a spark of hope in her eyes.

"I'm a doctor, not an engineer," Duello stated with a hint of anger in his voice.

"And my specialty is with computers and programming. This is new territory for me." Tieria explained.

"That's no excuse!" Parfet barked at the two of them. To Duello she said, "Everything that moves is alive, least that is what I believe anyways. And isn't it a doctor's job to treat anything that's alive."

Then to Tieria, "And you! You obviously understand how this system works. Didn't you say you worked on those mobile suits of yours? I don't want to here anything about it not being in your job descriptions!"

Both the men nodded in unison and dropped their jackets to the floor. Time to get to work.

* * *

Bart growled at the snow that pelted him. Apparently eve to an astral projection frozen chunks of water hurt. With a tap of his finger he opened a video link with the engineering bay.

"Will someone please turn back on the shields?"

Much to his surprise Tieria was the one who appeared in the tiny video box.

"Tieria? What are you doing down there?"

"Trying to fix this damn ship. Would you mind dropping the ship a few hundred meters?"

"Um…sure." And with that thought the ship began to drop. Right into a storm of ice. The entire ship shook as the engines jerked and failed.

"All the activity in the engines have ceased," Amarone announce to the bridge crew.

"Just when I get good news I find out we're stuck in an nebula," the Captain moaned just before her fan turned off.

"Did you know this would happen?" Bart yelled to Tieria.

The purple-haired young main blinked, than said, "I just had a theory."

With a tap of his finger he cut the link to the navigation chamber, leaving Bart to be pelted by snow.

* * *

"That should give us more time and power to work with," Tieria said to Duello and Parfet. The doctor was busying himself monitoring the state of the ship. He was staring intensely at a countdown screen, which was stuck bouncing between 44 and 43.

"The parameters of the ship are fluctuating erratically."

"I see," Parfet said, jotting data down on her clipboard as she studied Pyoro's progress. "Why is this happening?"

At that the small machine muttered its name before shaking loose of the cords attached to it and releasing steam in their wake.

"I'm fine, thank you…" Pyoro muttered as he began to "blush."

"What's with this thing?" Parfet asked.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the composition of the nebula," Duello stated as he leaned over Pyoro.

"That's it!" Parfet exclaimed as she slammed a fist to her palm. "The ship must be getting rid of the built up impurities and neutralizing them all."

"Like a living organism," Duello muttered, then to Tieria he asked, "That was your theory wasn't it? If you drove the ship into the ice storm it would remove the crystals along the hull."

Tieria nodded and stepped forward. "Parfet gave me the idea." He glanced at her. "'Everything that moves is alive.' I thought that the crystals were like boils that sprout up along someone's skin and that if we remove them we could weaken the 'disease' running through the ship, or at least prove it is a 'disease.'"

"That's genius!" Parfet shouted as she slapped Tieria on the back. "Now all we have to do is find a way to administer an—"

"—antibiotic into the ship's system," Duello finished for her.

"Exactly. And I already have an idea for that," Tieria waved his hand at the computer screen he was working at. "I've developed a program that will merge the male and female systems of the ship. It's like an autoimmune disease; when the body attacks itself instead of the invaders. If we get the two halves to work together then it should give us back full control of the ship."

"Why haven't you administered this program into the ship?" Parfet asked, a look of annoyance in her eyes.

"There's a dead end I've hit. It looks like the program will have to move through the same system that is gathering the impurities and expelling them. However, until it's stabilized nothing can be done," he dropped his hands to his sides, apparently defeated.

Parfet, on the other hand, wasn't willing to give up. She bolted to the computer screen, waving her hand for the two of them to follow her.

"Lets take one more look at the system. There might be something we missed."

* * *

The laser drill in Dita's hand hummed as it fired a beam into one of the numerous metal prongs that entrapped Gascogne. Must to their disappointment, the metal remained as cool as ice.

"No luck at all," Dita cried.

"Well this is wonderful," Gascogne cursed herself, "I can't believe I screwed things up this bad."

Dita stared at her superiors with tearful eyes. "I'll go get the tools from the Dread."

"Don't bother."

"What?"

"Did you forget our mission?" Barked the older women. "We came here with a job to do and someone has to return with the data."

"But I can't just leave you here Ms. Gasco!" The girl was just about to burst into sobs.

"Who said you were leaving me here to rot?" Gascogne asked, giving Dita an assuring smile. "Just go back to the ship and get some help. I'll be just fine right here."

"Okay," Dita muttered reluctantly. "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere."

With a puff of smoke from her jetpack she launched herself out of the wreckage and towards the Dread. Just as she slipped inside and jettisoned herself into the swirling void, the ship began to hum with activity.

"Huh?" Gascogne craned her head to see a squad of cube-types slip silently towards her. "Looks like I've go company."

* * *

Magno rolled her head around to unkink the not in her neck. Old age seemed to be finally catching up with the Pirate Queen.

"Captain."

Through tightly closed eyes she saw BC appear on the viewing screen, apparently in the men's section of the ship.

"Yes?"

"I have an idea about how to retrieve Gasco and Dita."

"I'm listening," the Captain said, fatigue reaching down into her bones.

"After looking it over I found that the male Vanguard can launch. We could have the boy to look for them."

"That's not a bad idea, but why not send the other one? The terrorist."

"I figure that the Vanguard pilot will be more cooperative."

"You're probably right. I'll allow it." Straightening up, she asked, "By the way, why are you in the men's section of the ship?"

For a few moments the vice-captain just stared at her superior. After blinking a few times she said, "I'm just fulfilling my role as your first mate."

And with that she was gone, probably to do just that.

* * *

"It's hot!" Hibiki yelled, his voice echoing down the hall.

"Guess they didn't turn on the air conditioning," Setsuna muttered hoarsely from beside the Taraak youth.

They were both sprawled out on the floor. Without shirts. Or undershirts. Or pants. Hibiki wore a red loincloth over his manhood and Setsuna a pair of black boxers. Still, this did little to reduce the amount of sweat that coated their half-naked bodies. It almost seemed as if they'd just finish a yaoi seen.

Rolling onto his side Hibiki corrected his loincloth so it didn't fall off and asked, "What do you think the others are up to?"

"Bart probably crashed the ship, Duello and Tieria are in the engine room fixing the ship, that red-haired girl – Dita, I think she's called – is lost in space, and the rest of the ship is in chaos." Setsuna declared as he took a deep, warm breath.

"Heh. You're probably right."

They both perked up as a shadow descended upon them. Both squinted at the light enshrouded woman in front of them.

"Interesting outfits," BC said with a grin.

"Is it our turns to come with you now?" Hibiki asked.

"On the contrary. I only came for you."

"Me?"

"I'm going to be honest with you. We left two crewmates behind. I'd like you to get them back."

Hibiki laughed. "What makes you think I'll help you?"

Setsuna stared at his friend, but said nothing. It was too hot for him to chastise anyone; let the woman take care of it

"This is no time for men and women to be fighting each other," She snarled, "You saw it, didn't you? That unidentified enemy? I thought you'd be willing able to help us since you defeated them before."

Hibiki glared at her and scoffed.

"The strong are supposed to help the weak, at least that is what I've heard is common sense in a man's world. But I guess not."

She turned to leave, but Hibiki called after her.

"Fine!" He spat. "I'll help you out. But this is the last time I let you manipulate me. I've already shown a side of myself to you I shouldn't have. I'm not gonna do this again!"

"I never thought I was manipulating you," she whispered just loud enough for them to hear. "It wasn't intended that way."

"Oh and one other thing," Hibiki stated as he slipped on his clothes. "Setsuna comes with me."

Setsuna stared at him, his expression in what he though was confusion but to others it was just the same empty expression. Hibiki met his eyes and said, "I'm a better pilot when you're around. And besides, it's hot in here."

Setsuna didn't know how to feel. He'd known this boy for maybe two days, saved him, nearly blew him up, and shared a storage room with him. And now his friend wanted to take him women hunting. This was a new day for him. A day when he could share a calm moment with another human being, when he could share love with another human being, when he could —

Ahhh screw it! He just felt a little happy to be out of the heat.

* * *

"Look at this," Duello said as he pointed at a schematic of the ship, some parts flashing red. "The input output ratio is off."

"That's because there are not enough routes!" Parfet shouted back.

"And the current ones can't handle the pressure," Tieria stated.

"Don't give up like that!"

Duello and Tieria glanced at each other.

"Bi-pass?" They asked together.

"A bi-pass?" Parfet stared at the two of them, confused.

Duello explained it. "When there's a blocked artery you simply create a different route for the blood to flow through."

"That's genius!" Parfet exclaimed as she jumped with joy, causing her assets to "giggle." She gave the two of them a thumbs up and patted Duello on his shoulder. "You'd make a good engineer," and to the rest of the room, "Alright everybody! Its time to get working!"

Duello and Tieria just stood their, the former because he was touched by the woman and the latter because of the "giggling." Tieria took note to his fellow male's discomfort and asked him, "Want some disinfectant?"

Back in the Bridge trouble was brewing.

Amarone tapped her screen three times and then announced "Something's on an intercept course!"

"What now?" The Captain growled.

"An asteroid sized ice massed is approaching."

"You hear that?" The Captain shouted at the green Paeksis pool. "Do something!"  
"AHHHHHH!!!!" Bart screamed into the blackness of space. "Help me! Get me out of here!"

* * *

Dita spun her Dread to the side, avoiding a barrage of laser fire. Three cube-types were hot on her tail, their weapons glowing bright red.

"Noooo!" She screamed as energy beams discharged across the bow of her ship. Tightening her grip on the controls pushed deeper into the darkness, but they were unrelenting.

"I really hate aliens who don't know when to quit!" She cried just as her radar picked up an approaching vessel. "From the front too?"

Just as another barrage of lasers hit her she accidently fired a bolt of plasma at the foe in front of her. They discharged with a flash of light and she prayed they were gone. But, out of the darkness a red giant machine appeared.

"Hey! Is that how you treat someone who came to save you?" Hibiki snarled as his image flashed on her computer.

Behind him, Gundam 00 cut through the darkness, flying right past Dita towards the cube-types. In two strikes of his GN Swords they were turned into cheap metal.

"Mr. Aliens!" Dita squealed, flying straight towards the Vanguard. "You two actually came to save me!"

"Hey! Wait! Get away from me!" But his cries fell on deaf ears. With a flash of light the Vanguard and Dread fused to create the blue giant from the night before.

"Oh wow!" Dita exclaimed as she moved around in her seat, crushing Hibiki underneath her. "What is all this?"

"Hey! Would you cut that out?"

She ignored his squeals of terror. With a grin she turned to look him right in the eyes. "I want you to know I believed in you. I knew you would come to save me."

"Hmm!" He grunted. "I didn't come here to rescue you. I just came here to, uh, find you." He blushed and looked away.

"Well, thank you." Dita whispered to him.

"Hey, are you two done in there?" Setsuna asked. "Where's the other member of your team?"

* * *

A massive cube-type three times the normal size cut through Gascogne's cage with a small blowtorch. Steadily, it began to free the woman. Though, under the circumstances, she wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"You know," She began, trying to smile in this time of crisis, "you guys are quite sufficient. We could use some workers like you."

The machine ignored her as it cast another prong aside and stretched its massive claw towards her.

"Well, I guess I know what you want for dinner. So its finally my turn, huh?"

Her answer came in the form of a blast of the pink light that pierced the cube-type clean through its head. Two more bolts of light hit in the chest. Electricity sparked out of its wounds, followed by a roaring inferno. The woman covered her head with her arms; though she had little faith an inch of space suit would protect her. But nothing happened.

Opening her eyes she found a massive robotic hand wrapped around her, blocking the flames. When they died down it released her. She followed it to its head and smiled at what she saw. The blue giant she recognized from the previous battle had wrenched itself into the small opening in the ship.

"Well, looks like you waited till the last minute to rescue me. Not that I'm complaining."

Free of her bonds she floated towards the cockpit of the machine. The door hissed open, revealing a large cockpit with one seat, filled by both Dita and Hibiki.

"Not to comfy, I guess." She slipped inside and pealed off her space suit. "You wouldn't happen to have a spare shirt?"

Hibiki glared at her and looked away.

"You guys finished?" Setsuna said over the com system. "We better get back to the ship."

* * *

He sighed as the two giants floated away from the wrecked ship. Turning back to face it all the while charging the Vulcan Cannons, he unleashed two massive particle beams into the center of it. The explosion rippled through space, white-hot flames washing over 00.

"Damn! I thought we'd actually get a chance to cool off!"

Setsuna could only smile at his friend, but it didn't last. Energy coursed through his nerves with the intensity of a wild fire. He fell against his computer screen, twitching violently.

"Hey! What's wrong? Setsuna?"

"Mr. Alien? What's the matter?"

Their voices were far away, just like he was. He was standing of the hull of the ship, ice and space dust roaring around him. But that's not what worried him. A sphere of ice and rock was rolling down on them. It wouldn't miss and they couldn't avoid it. He could feel the crunch of metal, hear the screams of terror, and see the explosion that would engulf them. They were all going to die.

He was back in his body, panting and eyes glowing bright gold. His entire body was shivering and his head ache with a dull pain. He forced himself to breath, taking sever deep breaths before sitting up.

"Setsuna? Oh thank God you're alright! I was getting worried," Hibiki said, worry clearly the dominant emotion in his voice. "What happened?"

"Mr. Alien! Are you ookaayyy?" Dita stretched out the last word. Or that was the blood in his ears.

He didn't bother to respond. He spun the Gundam around and jettisoned himself on a course back to the ship. Hibiki and the others were right behind him, but they weren't fast enough to catch up.

Setsuna's golden eyes pierced the void. He could still see it happening. But he still had time.

He opened a small panel behind his control sticks, revealing a small number pad. Inputting his access code, his screen turned bright red.

He let the word fall from his lips.

"Trans-Am."

The words flashed on the screen as outside the Gundam's GN Drives tripled their output, the emerald particles now crimson red. And with a flash, he was gone.

* * *

"We've managed to secure up to thirty-six bypasses over here," Parfet announced as she typed on her computer. "How bout you two?"

Tieria was distracted with his own work, modifying and preparing his program for its activation. "Almost done."

Duello on the other hand was working on Pyoro, leaning over its opened stomach with a power tool in hand.

"Not much else I can do here. We'll have to make do with what we have."

"That won't do! If we don't have enough bypasses the system might overload!"

"Do you know what doctors do in times like this?" Duello asked.

"Huh?" Again, Parfet was confused.

"We trust in the patient's will to live."

"That may be all we'll need," Tieria muttered as he put the finishing touches on his project. Then he felt it. Like the plucking of a guitar string the feeling echoed through the air towards him.

'Setsuna?'

'Tieria! Thank whoever's out there you're still alive. How's the ship?'

'As chaotic as ever. Why? Should I be worried?'

'Hopefully not. Look, hang tight. I'm gonna try something.'

'Okay,' Tieria turned back to his program, but didn't input another line of code before he reached out to Setsuna. 'You're not in 00 are you?'

'Yah. Why?'

'Look. Whatever you're thinking you stop it now! We have no idea what'll happen when you activate Trans-Am!'

'We'll see.'

* * *

"The ice mass is getting closer!"

"No response from the Paeksis! We have no control!"

"Grr…" The Captain growled, but she stopped when she realized her fan had turned back on. The ship shook slightly as power filtered back into it.

Belvedere gasped as her computer screen lit up. "The system just booted up!"

* * *

Down below Tieria's program did its magic. Across multiple computer screens numerous systems beeped to life. Even Pyoro was feeling better. The tiny metal man jumped up from the operating table, squealing with joy.

"I'm ready for work!" He exclaimed as he saluted the engineering room.

"Alright! The system is back to normal! Our plan worked!" She gave Duello a high five, clutching his hand tightly. "Are we good or what?"

They both stared into each other's eyes, red slowly covering their faces. Not far away Tieria smiled at the couple.

"Young love…"

* * *

In the navigation room Bart continued to scream as the Captain shouted, "Hard to starboard 30 degrees!"

"I hope is not too late!" He squealed as he pulled the ship to the right. But he was right. The asteroid was only a few seconds away, and there was no room to dodge it.

"This is it!" Bart threw is arms up to protect himself, but not before noticing the red light that burned through the storm. "That can't be…"

* * *

Setsuna smiled as the Raister System hummed to life.

"70% charged!" Haro beeped.

"Perfect. Maintain speed."

"Roger! Roger!"

Drawing the GN Swords, Setsuna cut through the storm, aiming straight ahead. In the distance his golden eyes could seen the lights shining from the Nirvana and even hear Bart's cries for help. Why should Setsuna disappoint him?

"85% charged!"

Setsuna aimed the Vulcan Cannons forward and switched the GN Swords to rifle mode as he passed the ship. Glowing with a crimson light, 00 stopped right between the ship and asteroid.

"95% charged! 96%! 97%! 98%! 99%!"

"Firing GN Beam Saber!"

The shining red beam exploded from 00's weapons and cleaved clean through the asteroid, melting ice and stone alike. With a whip of its wrists, 00 cut through the asteroid twice more, severing it into four parts. But it did not stop there. Swiftly, he maneuvered the Gundam around the remaining chucks and shattered them into tiny specks of snow. Soon only space dust remained.

Setsuna sighed deeply as the beam saber flickered off and Haro announced that the GN Drives were completely empty. 'Too close,' he thought, 'far too close.'

"Incoming call! Incoming call!"

"Setsuna!" Far away someone called his name, sounding desperate and worried. "Are you okay?"

Setsuna lifted his head at the sound of Hibiki's voice. The Vandread was speeding right towards him, it's crystal wings releasing small pulses of light that jettisoned it forward. 'Vandread,' Setsuna thought to himself. 'That seems like a fitting name.'

"Mr. Alien!" Dita squealed as her face filled his screen. "That was so amazing! Alien power is just so amazing! Oh, are you okay? You look a little sick."

He smiled at the young girl's sense of wonder and concern. "Just tired. Very, very tired."

"Lets head back inside. Tieria says they fixed the air conditioning," Hibiki announced. He stretched out one of the Vandread's hands towards 00. With a small laugh that only he heard, Setsuna clutched the Vandread's hand and went home.

* * *

"Hmm, well this is an improvement," Tieria said as he stretched out on his bed. Across from him Setsuna and Hibiki sat, both drained from piloting their machines. Bart was in a corner filling each of them a bowl of pills, their dinner for the night. The doctor/engineer sat on the floor cross-legged, scanning through a data pad Tieria gave him on women. He seemed quite intrigued by it.

Just a couple hours after the men had narrowly fixed the ship, saved the rescue team, and then saved the entire ship all of them (save Duello, who still had a patient to take care of) were called to the bridge just as BC made a startling announcement.

"The Captain and I have just finished our meeting and have decided to inform the entire crew of our situation. Upon analyzing the data we retrieved from the enemy debris we have gather some intelligence on them. I'd like you all to take a look at this image."

The image of a large black and yellow sphere appeared on every viewing screen so that everyone could see the face of their enemy. The entire sphere seemed to be covered in metal, mostly from sinister looking pieces of weaponry and the massive towers sprouting from the surface. Along each tower, giant gears turned. Tor what purpose, no one knew.

"This is our enemies home planet. We do not know their location, but they seem to have quite a lot of firepower. We are currently in this enemy's territory and they are attacking us because they perceive our presence to be hostile. For this reason we expect more battles to occur along our return course to Mejarion space.

"We learned something else from the data. Our enemy is calling for the total annihilation of our home world Mejare as well as the male planet Taraak."

The Captain took over from there. "We are pirates and as such our loyalties are not bound to either Mejare or Taraak. However, it's certainly not in our benefit to watch our potential customers wiped from the face of the universe. Because of that I plan on us reaching our home system before our enemy does and inform either world of this coming crisis. In order to be successful we must incorporate the men into our crew."

The ship exploded in shock at this revelation. Not in the past century of their existence had either sex worked together, not even in times of crisis. For all of them (save two special individual) this was unprecedented. Bart on the other hand found this delightful, even going so far as to say, "Well, you've finally taken my advice."

"It has finally begun." Tieria muttered to Setsuna, who nodded in agreement.

"There is much we do not know, such as the ship and that large machine. But I'm sure we'll learn more about these things one piece at the time as we continue on our journey. I expect the full cooperation of the entire crew. That is all."

The Captain gave a sigh of a relief just as Ezra and Duello walked into the room.

"I'm sorry I was down before," Ezra gave a quick bow to the older woman. "I'll be returning to my station now."

"Have you determined the cause of the fever?" BC asked.

"Well, about that," Ezra began but Duello cut her off.

"There appears to be some type of parasitic organism feeding on my patient's body." He said, ignorant of the shock this would give the bridge crew.

"No! Your wrong!" Ezra exclaimed, blushing bright red with embarrassment. "Well, you see, it looks like I'll be having a baby."

This came as a warm relief to the women. Belvedere leapt with joy and shouted "Mazel Tov!" for all to hear. Even Tieria and Setsuna smiled to each other with delight, ignoring their fellow men's confusion.

"Ezra, when in the world did you become a Fama?" Amarone asked, eyes aglow with joy.

"So whose the Oma?" Belvedere also asked.

Bart, the ignorant yet lovable lad he was, said, "I thought babies were supposed to be made in a factory."

"Huh?" All the ladies in the room said as one.

"Come to think of it I have heard that women reproduce internally," Duello stated as he rubbed his chin.

"Captain, please forgive me," Ezra said, "I was hoping to tell you once we'd finished the raid on the men before."

The Captain gave her an assuring smile and nod. "There's nothing to apologize for, Ezra. I hope you have a healthy baby."

Just before Belvedere and Amarone bothered Ezra with any more questions, the Gundam Meisters stepped forward. Tieria kept his eyes on the ground, mildly blushing. He knew exactly what went into making a baby for women and, well, it scared him.

"Mazel tov," He muttered, quickly running past her and out of the room.

"Um…" Ezra was at a loss for words as she watched him walk away. "Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine," Setsuna declared, suddenly at the future mother's side. Looking her directly in the eyes he gave her a rare smile and said, "Congratulations."

And that's how the men ended up getting their own dorm rooms in the male half of the ship. Bart passed around the food, still a little confused about how women had children. Some of the women had tried to explain it to him, but he found it all hard to believe.

"Hey, Tieria?" He asked as he handed him some food.

"Yes Bart?" The purple-haired beauty began to scarf down his food, ravished after all the work in the engineering bay.

"What did you mean earlier?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know. When you said 'It's finally begun.' What did you mean by that?"

Duello looked up from his book and even Hibiki showed a mild sense of interest. Tieria stared at his new friends. What could he say at a time like this? Truth or lies? Deal or no deal? Grilled cheese sandwich or taco?

"I was just thinking that this was something members of Celestial Being have been waiting for. A time when men and women were forced to work together."

That seemed to satisfy Bart and Duello, but Hibiki was clearly unhappy. Tieria watched anger and fear mix across the young lad's face. Oddly enough, Setsuna was the one to comfort him, "Don't worry. We won't let them eat you."

* * *

Back at the elevator, Jura and Barnette were STILL stuck between a hard place and fifty pounds of loaded weaponry.

"Jura, do you think they'll ever let us out of here?" Barnette cried. No, literally, she cried. Tears and all that crap.

"Someone let us out of her!" Jura moaned.

Then, an invisible boy with dark skin and black hair appeared next to them. He gave them a rare smile and, with a wave of his hand, the elevator started up again.

* * *

**And thats a wrap folks! Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. I can't promise that the next one will come any faster (what with AX being this week and Comic-con just around the corner) but I'll definitely try to be more organized with my work. On that note I would like to address the issue of pairings. **

**I plan on keeping almost all of the original pairings intact from Vandread. Since 00 didn't have very many for Tieria and Setsuna I plan on adding one or two that occur pre-Vandread and post-00. **

**Some people have mentioned a Meia and Setsuna pairing to me. That was my first idea, but that seems way to simple and obvious. I may keep that as my original plan or I'll go a totally different route (can anyone say YAOI? Setsuna/Tieria? Setsuna/Hibiki?). I joke (or do I?) **

**Anyways, I'm planning on Tieria developing a small friendship with Jura and maybe the same for Setsuna and Barnette (since he's the only one who could truly stand up to her on even ground). But I digress. All that will come later. **

**For now I hope you enjoyed Vandread 00: Elevator Music. Also, please review.**


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